iIGH  LIGHTS  OF  THE 
MEXICAN  REVOLUTION 


John  Lewin  McLeish  A.M.,  M.  D 


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HIGH    LIGHTS    OF    THE 
MEXICAN   REVOLUTION 


Some  Previously  Unwritten  History  of  the  Beginning  and  Growth 
of    Constitutional    Government  in  the  Southern  Republic 


llllllllllflilllllllllll 


By  John  Lewin  McLeish,  A.  M.,  M.  D., 

President  Masonic  Library  Association  of  Cincinnati 


Copyright  1918 

All  Rights  Reserved 

Menace  Publishing   Co. 


Foreword 

Now  that  the  United  States  has  entered  the  world- 
war,  aligning  itself  with  the  allies  against  the  common 
enemy  of  Constitutional  Government,  the  vital  impor- 
tance of  the  "Mexican  Problem"  as  it  affects  our  pres- 
ent and  future,  is  of  increased  interest.  The  dire  pos- 
sibilities resultant  upon  the  unexpected  in  Mexico, 
were  brought  nearer  to  us,  when  President  Wilson 
recently  disclosed  the  bold  plot  of  Herr  Zimmermann 
to  array  Mexico  and  Japan  actively  against  the  United 
States,  a  treacherous  breach  of  international  law  never 
denied  by  Berlin. 

A  true  insight  of  what  constitutionalism  means 
in  Mexico  today,  and  a  more  familiar  knowledge  of  the 
men  who  control  the  present  and  future  of  our  south- 
land neighbor's  policies,  is  of  paramount  importance. 

The  Mexican  Revolution  did  not  begin,  (as  many 
suppose)  with  the  overthrow  of  Porfirio  Diaz  in  1910. 
It  had  its  inchoation  as  far  back  as  1857,  with  the  first 
promulgation  of  a  Mexican  Constitution  by  Benito 
Juarez.  It  is  the  intimate  connection  of  recent  events 
in  Mexico  with  the  Three  Years  War  between  the  Mex- 
ican Liberals  and  the  Mexican  Clericals  that  I  have 
traced  in  these  pages.  Some  of  the  chapters  appeared 
serially  in  our  two  leading  American  Masonic  Mag- 
azines, The  Builder  and  The  American  Freemason. 
As  a  whole  the  book  forms  a  complete  history  of  Mex- 
ico from  the  coming  of  Cortez  to  the  end  of  1916.  The 
chapter  on  Modern  Masonry  explains  the  peculiarly 
antipodal  relations  of  Mexican  Masonry  and  Mexican 
Clericalism. 

JOHN  LEWIN  McLEISH. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  June  17th,  1917. 


Contents 

I. — Mexican  Masonry  and  Mexican  Clericalism. 

II. — Don    Miguel    de    Hidalgo:    Ex-Priest,    Master 
Mason. 

III. — Don  Augustin  de  Iturbide,  a  New  World  Em- 
peror. 

IV. — Don  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna. 

V. — Don  Benito  Juarez,  Father  of  the  Mexican  Con- 
stitution. 

VI. — Don    Francisco    I.    Madero,    Mexico's    Masonic 
Martyr. 

VII. — Don  Venustiano  Carranza,  Constitutional  Presi- 
dent of  Mexico. 

VIII. — Masonic  Light  Upon  Mexico. 

IX. — The  Mormons  of  Mexico,  a  People  Without  a 
Country. 

X. — Life  Across  the  Rio  Grande,  a  study  of  the 
Peons. 

XI. — Masonry,  Its  Philosophy  in  Wartime. 

XII. — Modern  Masonry,  1717-1917;  the  Inchoation  of 

an  Invisible  Empire. 
XIII. — Epilogue:  Mexican  Masonry  and  the  Men  Who 

Made  It. 

Some  Mexican  Bibliography. 


CHAPTER  I 

MEXICAN  MASONRY  AND  MEXICAN  CLERICAL* 

ISM— TWO  POWERFUL  FORCES  IN  THE 

MEXICAN  PROBLEM 

As  January  1917  drew  to  a  close,  the  American 
Punitive  Expedition  under  General  Pershing  began  its 
homeward  march  to  the  Rio  Grande. 

In  point  of  accomplishment  the  brief  sojourn  of 
the  American  soldiers  at  Colonia  Dublan  is  a  psycho- 
logical problem,  the  solution  of  which  is  still  to  be  in- 
terpreted upon  the  pages  of  history.  At  this  time  it 
impresses  one  as  a  little  less  logical  than  the  famous 
performance  of  a  certain  King  of  France  who  led  his 
soldiers  up  the  hill,  then  led  them  down  again. 

Negligible  as  it  may  seem  in  result,  none  will  deny 
that  the  denouement  of  the  Mexican  drama  draws 
nearer.  With  the  First  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalist 
Party  in  comparative  control,  some  semblance  of  order 
has  been  restored  to  revolution-ridden  Mexico,  and  the 
bete  noir  of  both  the  United  States  and  its  southern 
neighbor,  Francisco  Villa,  has  now  become  a  negative 
character,  reverting  once  more  to  his  type  that  of 
bandit  pure  and  simple. 

The  attempt  of  German  diplomats  to  align  Car- 
ranza  and  the  Constitutionalist  Party  against  their 
benefactor,  the  United  States,  shows  a  surprising  lack 
of  familiarity  with  the  development  of  the  Liberal 
Movement  in  Mexico,  and  of  what  the  present  effort  to 


8  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

establish  a  really  Constitutional  Government  in  the 
southern  Republic  means. 

No  one  knows  better  than  Carranza  that  the  suc- 
cess of  his  cause  depends  entirely  upon  the  moral  and 
financial  support  accorded  him  by  the  United  States; 
no  one  knows  better  than  Carranza  that  should  his 
government  fall,  intervention  by  this  country  is  cer- 
tain. 

In  Latin  America,  two  names  are  synonymous; 
Freemasons  and  Liberals. 

Nowhere  in  all  the  world  has  the  Masonic  Order 
risen  more  promptly  to  its  great  opportunity,  and 
fought  the  good  fight  for  the  survival  of  the  fittest  in 
the  life  and  death  struggle  for  Free  Speech,  Free 
Thought,  and  Civil  and  Religious  Liberty  than  in  our 
war-torn  neighbor  of  the  southland,  Old  Mexico. 

Many  labor  under  the  delusion  as  recently  ex- 
pressed by  a  writer  that  Latin  American  Masonry  is 
"atheistic,  revolutionary  and  contentious,  and  in  Mex- 
ico anarchistic  and  murderous."  When  one  turns  the 
pages  of  history  unfolding  a  tragic  story  of  three  cen- 
turies of  oppression  and  tyranny  unresisted,  until  the 
Masons  of  Mexico  took  up  the  sword  to  bring  Light 
out  of  Darkness,  and  restore  to  the  native  born  that 
which  was  their  very  own,  the  fallacy  of  any  such  as- 
sertion is  evident. 

To  fully  understand  the  long  drawn-out  struggle 
for  Mexican  Independence  dating  from  1810  down  to 
the  present  day  and  still  unsettled,  you  must  consider 
conditions  prior  to  and  after  the  conquest  by  the  Cath- 
olic, Cortez. 

At  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  it  was  the 
fashion  for  Popes  to  preach  "muscular  Christianity." 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  9 

The  Sons  of  the  Church  extended  the  doctrines  of  the 
Church  with  the  sword  in  the  right  hand,  the  Bible  in 
the  left.  In  those  days  religious  infidelity,  (which 
meant  any  small  divergence  from  the  doctrines  of  Ro- 
man Catholicism),  was  regarded  as  a  sin  "to  be  pun- 
ished with  fire  and  faggot  in  this  world,  eternal  suff- 
ering in  the  next/'  It  was  such  dicta  that  led  the 
"Holy  See"  to  take  title  to  any  heathen  land  wherever 
found  in  the  name  of  the  Pope.  Under  this  same 
theory  in  1494,  Pope  Alexander  VI,  one  of  the  notorious 
Borgia  family,  boasting  a  mistress  Vanozia,  and  four 
illegitimate  children,  issued  a  Papal  Bull  dividing  the 
whole  world  between  two  puppet  Catholic  nations, 
Spain  and  Portugal.  "Bodies  and  souls,  the  property 
and  services  of  the  conquered  nations  were  to  be  their 
peculiar  inheritance  and  that  of  their  successors  for- 
ever." 

This  Bull  of  Borgia's  was  confirmed  by  later 
Popes.  It  served  as  the  fanatic  inspiration  of  Hernan 
Cortez  and  his  band  of  adventurers  to  invade  and  over- 
throw a  mighty  empire  quite  as  advanced  in  civiliza- 
tion according  to  fifteen  century  standards  as  that  of 
the  Old  World.  Says  the  historian  Abbot,  "Cortez  and 
his  followers  were  men  of  violence,  and  blood,  little 
better  than  a  horde  of  pirates  and  banditti."  Says 
Chevalier,  "They  committed  crimes  which,  by,  the  laws 
of  all  nations  could  be  expiated  only  by  a  gallows  for 
the  principal  and  the  galleys  for  his  followers." 

With  no  other  title  than  the  Apostolic  Dictum 
"the  heathen  are  given  as  an  inheritance,  and  the  ut- 
termost parts  of  the  earth  as  a  possession"  came 
Cortez  and  his  mailclad  men  and  his  black-robed  friars 
to  bring  darkness,  misery,  slavery  and  oppression  to  a 


10  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

hitherto  happy  people  whose  advancement  in  art  and 
architecture  and  civilization  rivalled  that  of  ancient 
Egypt. 

Our  first  definite  records  of  Mexican  civilization 
date  back  to  the  seventh  century  with  the  coming  of 
the  Toltecs  to  Anahuac.  These  Toltecs  were  designers 
of  beautiful  buildings  and  palaces.  Their  very  name 
is  synonymous  with  that  of  the  Builders  of  Architects. 
Some  of  their  fine  handiwork  you  may  see  today  in  the 
classic  ruins  of  Mitla,  Cholula  and  Yucatan.  In  their 
day  of  dominance  they  controlled  all  of  Anahuac  or 
what  is  now  modern  Mexico.  Through  their  wonder- 
ful hieroglyphic  writings  have  come  down  to  us  their 
Race-Record  presenting  a  series  of  picture-histories  of 
an  ancient  and  most  honorable  past. 

History  in  the  Old  World  as  in  the  New  has  been 
but  one  long  repetition.  In  the  lives,  of  men  may  be 
found  the  inevitable  working  out  of  that  ancient  law 
so  clearly  enunciated  by  Malthus  in  the  curt  saying, 
"LIFE  IS  A  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  FITTEST." 

It  proved  so  in  Mexico.  Out  of  the  north  came  the 
fierce  Aztecs,  the  blood-ancestors  of  two-thirds  of  the 
native-born  of  modern  Mexico.  By  right  of  might 
they  swept  the  Toltecs  before  them  and  reduced  all 
neighboring  nations  but  one,  the  Tlascalans,  to  sub- 
servience. 

Masters  of  Mexico  in  1325,  the  Aztecs  planned 
and  laid  the  great  foundations  of  their  capitol,  Tenoch- 
titlan,  a  beautiful  city  of  three  hundred  thousand  peo- 
ple, on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Mexico. 

Tradition  tells  us  the  Aztecs  were  induced  to  build 
in  the  lake-encircled  Valley  of  Mexico  by  an  omen 
shown   of   a   monstrous  eagle  resting  upon  a  cactus, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  11 

holding  between  its  talons  a  serpent.  Here  is  a  fine 
bit  of  symbolism  for  you  symbol-loving  Masons,  the 
serpent  perennially  shedding  its  skin  to  emerge  Re- 
freshed and  regenerated,  the  serpent  an  emblem  of 
Immortality. 

All  that  was  best  of  the  splendid  Toltec  civiliza- 
tion the  Aztecs  retained  and  during  the  several  hun- 
dred years  of  empire  under  the  dynasty  of  the  Monte- 
zumas  they  exhibited  an  amazing  advance  in  Hierogli- 
phy  or  Symbolic  Lore,  Agriculture,  Astronomy,  Archi- 
tecture, Metallurgy,  Trade,  and  Jurisprudence. 

The  Aztec  Empire  was  an  elective  monarchy  made 
up  of  a  confederation  of  states  of  which  the  united 
armies  were  quite  invincible  until  the  coming  of  Cortez 
and  his  mailclad  men  with  their  artillery  and  cavalry, 
until  then,  quite  unknown  in  Anahuac.  The  ruling 
Emperor  was  chosen  from  one  family  or  its  immediate 
blood-connections,  so  perpetuating  the  royal  line  from 
one  generation  to  another. 

"Fortunately,"  says  Prescott,  "the  throne  was 
filled  by  a  succession  of  able  Princes,  who  knew  how 
to  profit  by  their  enlarged  resources  and  by  the  ma- 
terial enthusiasm  of  the  nation.  Year  after  year  saw 
them  return  loaded  with  the  spoils  of  conquered  cities, 
and  with  throngs  of  captives." 

Sustaining  the  royal  family  was  an  hereditary 
nobility,  the  Caciques,  who  occupied  to  the  throne, 
much  the  same  position  as  that  of  the  feudal  barons 
of  Merrie  England. 

With  the  surpassingly  rich  mines  of  Mexico  and 
the  illimitable  natural  resources  of  the  tropics  to  draw 
from,  the  wealth  of  the  Aztec  nation  knew  no  bounds. 
Gold,  silver  and  precious  stones  were  more  plentiful 


12  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

with  them  than  with  any  nation  of  the  ancient  or 
modern  world. 

A  luxury  surpassing  even  the  fabled  wealth  of 
the  Orient  was  a  salient  characteristic  of  the  Aztec 
empire.  The  palace  of  the  Montezumas  in  the  center 
of  Tenochtitlan  was  possessed  of  all  the  traditional 
glories  of  our  own  King  Solomon's  Temple.  Let  Pres- 
cott  speak  again: 

"In  the  royal  palace  of  Tezcuco  was  a  courtyard, 
on  the  opposite  sides  of  which  were  two  halls  of  jus- 
tice. In  the  principal  one,  called  "The  Tribunal  of 
God"  was  a  throne  of  pure  gold,  inlaid  with  turquoises 
and  other  precious  stones.  On  a  stool  in  front  was 
placed  a  human  skull  crowned  with  an  immense  emer- 
ald, of  a  pyramidal  form  and  surmounted  by  an 
aigrette  of  brilliant  plumes  and  precious  stones.  The 
skull  was  laid  on  a  heap  of  military  weapons,  shields, 
quivers,  bows  and  arrows.  The  walls  were  hung  with 
tapestry,  made  of  the  hair  of  different  wild  animals,  of 
rich  and  various  colors,  festooned  by  gold  rings  and 
embroidered  with  figures  of  birds  and  flowers.  Above 
the  throne  was  a  canopy  of  variegated  plumage  from 
the  center  of  which  shot  forth  resplendent  rays  of 
gold  and  jewels." 

When  the  king  decided  important  causes  he 
passed  to  the  Tribunal  of  God  attended  by  the  four- 
teen great  lords  of  the  realm,  marshalled  according  to 
their  rank. 

In  such  state  lived  the  Aztec  monarch  and  his 
nobles. 

A  surprising  landmark  of  the  Aztec  civilization 
were  the  great  post-roads  of  the  empire.  These  girdled 
the  entire  country.  Couriers,  men  of  mighty  physique, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  13 

especially  trained  for  the  purpose,  relayed  His  Majes- 
ty's messages  to  and  from  the  remotest  parts  of  the 
empire  in  incredibly  short  time.  Floating  gardens,  ir- 
rigation ditches  and  canals  made  Mexico  a  very  won- 
derful horticulture. 

All  land  was  held  in  feudal  tenure.  While  the  em- 
peror controlled  the  legislative  power,  he  was  held  in 
check  to  a  certain  extent,  by  regularly  constituted  ju- 
diciaries.   From  these  courts  even  he  had  no  appeal. 

Rights  of  property  and  persons  were  rigidly  en- 
forced. The  marriage  relation  was  sacred.  Intemper- 
ance was  severely  frowned  upon. 

All  nations  of  every  civilization  have  had  a  weak 
spot.  The  Aztec  religion  is  open  to  the  same  caustic 
criticism  as  is  Old- World  Christianity  in  its  primitive 
stages.  In  Rome  the  gladiatorial  combats  in  the  Cir- 
cus Maximus,  in  Spain  the  Holy  Inquisition,  in  France 
of  1572  the  coldly-conceived  Massacre  of  St.  Bartho- 
lomew, all  products  of  the  clerical  class.  Says  Pres- 
cott :  "Strange,  that  in  every  country  the  most  fiendish 
passions  of  the  human  heart  have  been  those  kindled 
in  the  name  of  religion." 

In  the  Aztec  system  the  singular  religious  cult  en- 
grafted upon  the  nation  by  the  dominant  priesthood, 
but  resembles  that  of  other  and  older  civilizations,  the 
predominating  good  traits  of  which  offset  the  out- 
standing bad. 

The  Supreme  Being  of  the  Aztecs  was  the  War 
God  Huitzil,  "the  invisible,  incorporeal,  one  God  of 
perfect  perfection  and  purity." 

As  ministering  agent  to  execute  his  will  were 
thirteen  lesser  divinities,  and  subordinate  to  them  two 
hundred  more. 


14  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

The  Aztecs  believed  in  life  after  death,  in  a  place 
of  dire  punishment,  and  paramount  pleasure.  There 
was  much  of  beauty  in  the  Aztec  religion.  Witness 
these  teachings: 

"Keep  peace  with  all.     Bear  injuries  with  humility.    God, 
who  sees,  will  avenge  you." 

Inferior  only  to  Montezuma  were  the  two  HIGH 
PRIESTS,  who  jointly  controlled  the  army  of  priests 
scattered  throughout  the  empire.  With  the  clergy 
rested  all  education  and  they  trained  the  youth  well. 
Hieroglyphic  picture-writing,  governmental  science, 
theology,  astronomy,  agriculture,  architecture,  and 
military  science  formed  but  part  of  their  curriculum. 
A  sacrificial  system  of  captives  taken  in  war,  was  one 
of  the  darker  shadows  of  Aztec  theology.  Upon  this 
score  however  they  are  no  more  to  be  condemned  than 
the  conquering  Spaniards  of  whom  a  Catholic  historian 
Clavigero,  says: 

"The  Spaniards  in  one  year  of  merciless  massacre, 
sacrificed  more  human  victims  to  avarice  and  ambition 
than  the  Indians  during  the  existence  of  their  empire 
devoted,  in  chaste  worship  to  their  native  Gods." 

Commissioned  by  the  Spanish  governor  of  Cuba, 
a  young  adventurer  of  thirty-three,  set  forth  to  con- 
quer the  Aztec  empire  and  Catholicize  Mexico.  Hernan 
Cortez  had  "eleven  vessels,  one  hundred  and  ten  mari- 
ners, five  hundred  and  fifty-three  soldiers,  ten  heavy 
guns,  four  lighter  pieces  and  sixteen  horses."  With 
this  little  expedition  this  audacious  adventurer  pur- 
posed to  conquer  the  mighty  empire  of  the  Montezu- 
mas.  As  representing  the  pope  went  with  him  two 
priests,  Fathers  Diaz  and  Olmedo. 

On  Good  Fridav  of  1519  Cortez  landed  on  the  site 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  15 

of  what  is  now  Vera  Cruz.  From  Montezuma  came 
handsome  presents,  among  them  many  fine  specimens 
of  gold.  Cortez  sounded  the  keynote  of  his  expedition 
when  he  informed  the  Aztec  ambassador,  "We  Span- 
iards have  a  disease  of  the  heart  for  which  gold  alone 
is  a  specific." 

In  spite  of  the  refusal  of  the  Aztec  emperor  to 
receive  the  Spaniards,  Cortez  pressed  boldly  on  into 
the  interior,  the  superior  arms,  artillery  and  cavalry 
of  the  invaders  winning  victory  against  odds  in  in- 
numerable engagements  with  far  superior  forces  of 
the  enemy. 

In  vain  Montezuma  sent  costly  embassies  to  the 
Spaniards,  with  helmets  full  of  pure  gold  dust,  massive 
plates  of  gold  and  silver  exquisitely  engraven,  some  of 
his  presents  totalling  thirty  thousand  dollars  each  in 
value;  collars  and  bracelets  of  silver  and  gold  inlaid 
with  emeralds,  pearls,  turquoise  and  other  precious 
stones.  In  vain  the  opulent  monarch  gave  freely  of 
his  all,  hoping  to  placate  the  thirst  of  his  unwelcome 
visitors  that  they  might  retire  whence  they  came  and 
leave  him  and  his  in  peace.  He  was  but  holding  forth 
the  lure  to  draw  the  little  band  of  adventurers  on,  so 
sounding  the  knell  of  Aztec  rule  forever. 

As  success  attended  his  arms  Cortez  grew  bolder, 
less  careful  of  externals.  Having  defeated  the  doughty 
Tlascalans  he  received  an  embassy  of  fifty,  had  their 
hands  severed  from  the  wrists  and  sent  them  back  to 
their  overlords — but  one  of  the  little  cruelties  of  which 
he  was  a  consummate  master. 

Having  subjugated  this  tribe  and  recruiting  them 
as  allies,  Cortez  next  descended  upon  Cholula,  the 
Sacred  City  and  Mecca  of  the  Indians  with  a  teeming, 


16  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

peaceful  population  of  150,000  souls.  Hospitably  har- 
bored here,  Cortez  had  ample  opportunity  to  gain  some 
conception  of  the  most  magnificent  civilization  any 
New  World  adventurer  had  yet  encountered.  Here  he 
found  the  great  pyramid  and  temple  to  Quetzal  with 
a  base  of  fourteen  hundred  and  twenty-three  feet,  and 
a  height  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven  feet,  sur- 
mounted by  a  magnificent  teocalli  or  temple.  In  spite 
of  the  hospitality  originally  accorded,  Cortez  suspected 
treachery,  summoned  the  inhabitants  of  the  Holy  City 
to  the  Great  Square,  where  without  any  warning  at  a 
given  signal  the  armed  Spaniards  fell  upon  them  and 
cut  them  down  pitilessly;  many  seeking  refuge  in  the 
wooden  buildings  were  burned  to  death ;  a  few  sought 
refuge  in  the  wooden  turrets  of  the  great  temple  only 
to  meet  a  similar  fearful  ending.  Six  thousand  souls 
were  cruelly  slaughtered  by  the  invading  white  men, 
and  the  beautiful  Holy  City  of  the  Aztecs  lay  a 
smoldering  heap  of  blackened  ruins. 

Such  scenes  as  this  characterized  the  whole  ca- 
reer of  Cortez  in  his  conquest.  Treachery  marked  his 
relations  with  the  Emperor  Montezuma  from  their 
first  meeting  until  the  murder  of  that  unhappy  mon- 
arch. There  was  the  same  reckless  disregard  of  life 
and  honor,  promises  unfulfilled,  pledges  broken,  cities 
sacked  and  records  obliterated.  In  one  foul  stroke 
Cortez  and  his  bigoted  followers  obliterated  all  records 
of  Aztec  civilization  with  the  razing  of  their  monu- 
ments, the  destruction  of  their  temples,  the  killing  of 
their  most  intelligent  representatives.  It  has  been  the 
policy  of  Rome  to  destroy  that  which  could  not  har- 
monize with  Rome  from  the  outset.  The  first  act  of 
Zumarraga,  first  Archbishop  of  the  Church  in  Mexico 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  17 

was  the  public  burning  of  the  Great  Library  of  the 
Aztecs,  so  obliterating  forever  from  our  ken  any  pos- 
sible trace  of  the  origin  of  this  wonderful  New  World 
civilization  which  Cortez  conquered  only  to  destroy. 

Says  Draper  the  historian:  "What  Spain  did  to 
this  continent  can  never  be  too  often  related — it  ought 
never  to  be  forgotten.  She  acted  with  appalling  atro- 
city to  those  Indians,  as  though  they  did  not  belong  to 
the  human  race.  Their  lands  and  goods  were  taken 
from  them  by  Apostolic  authority.  Their  persons 
were  next  seized  *  *  *.  It  was  one  unspeakable  out- 
rage; one  unutterable  ruin,  without  discrimination  of 
age  or  sex  *  *  *.  By  millions  upon  millions  whole  races 
and  nations  were  remorselessly  cut  off.  The  Bishop 
of  Chiapa  affirms  that  more  than  fifteen  millions  were 
exterminated  in  his  time.  From  Mexico  and  Peru,  a 
civilization  that  might  have  instructed  Europe  was 
crushed  out." 

The  traditional  cruelty  and  religious  fanaticism 
of  Hernan  Cortez  and  his  Spaniards  soon  manifested 
itself  after  their  advent  in  Tenochtitlan.  Hospitably 
received  by  the  Aztec  Emperor,  assigned  to  one  of  the 
most  pretentious  palaces  in  this  most  pretentious  of 
the  New  World  Capitals,  Cortez  forcibly  seized  upon 
the  person  of  his  host,  holding  Montezuma  hostage 
and  subjecting  him  to  personal  indignities  of  a  most 
reprehensible  sort. 

While  lamenting  the  barbarity  of  the  Aztecs  in 
offering  human  sacrifices  to  their  God,  Cortez  calmly 
decreed  and  executed,  by  burning  alive,  an  Aztec  Gov- 
ernor and  sixty  of  his  followers  in  the  heart  of  the 
Aztec  Capitol.     He  manacled  Montezuma  and  seizing 


18  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

upon  an  Aztec  Temple,  tore  down  the  native  deity  to 
set  up  a  statue  of  the  Virgin. 

During  an  absence  of  Cortez  at  Vera  Cruz,  his 
lieutenant,  Alvarado,  graciously  granted  permission  for 
the  Aztec  nobility  to  hold  religious  services  in  their 
Temple,  stipulating  only  that  they  come  unarmed.  At 
the  appointed  time  when  six  hundred  of  the  flower  of 
Montezuma's  courtiers  were  worshipping,  the  Span- 
iards fell  upon  them  and  mercilessly  cut  them  to 
pieces. 

Do  you  wonder  at  the  sudden  turning  of  the 
worm,  the  uprising  of  an  outraged  people,  the  unleash- 
ing the  dogs  of  war  throughout  all  Anahuac?  Does  it 
surprise  you  to  hear  that  the  gentle  Montezuma  died 
of  a  broken  heart? 

Cortez  conquered  eventually.  The  iron  rule  of 
Spain  was  fastened  upon  the  native-born  and  that  un- 
just system  of  harsh  government  put  into  force,  which 
held  the  Mexicans  supine  until  a  priest,  Hidalgo,  re- 
ceived Masonic  Light  and  with  the  assistance  of  his 
brethren  inaugurated  the  long  struggle,  the  end  of 
which  is  not  yet. 

You  have  seen  Cortez  and  his  mailclad  men  and 
black-robed  friars  set  foot  on  Mexico  with  practically 
nothing.  Scarcely  had  they  been  the  guests  of  Monte- 
zuma for  a  week  than  this  cunning  Spaniard  prevailed 
upon  the  Aztec  monarch  to  surrender  gold  and  jewels 
from  the  hidden  royal  Treasure  House  amounting  to 
six  million  dollars  in  American  gold. 

The  Spaniards  who  came  with  the  Conqueror  were 
Soldiers  of  the  Holy  Inquisition,  some  of  them  vet- 
erans in  previous  Crusades  against  the  heathen, 
trained  to  the  highest  degree  in  forcing  their  sort  of 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  19 

Christianity  upon  the  heretics.  Their  fine  cruelties 
had  already  been  perpetrated  upon  the  Moors  of  south- 
ern Spain ;  they  had  tortured  the  poor  Jews  when  they 
expelled  them  from  the  country;  and  now  each 
mother's  son  of  them,  convinced  that  he  was  an  Apostle 
of  the  Holy  Roman  Catholic  Church,  had  come  to  this 
New  World  to  seize  and  possess,  sack  cities,  despoil  the 
Aztec  temples,  slay  defenseless  women  and  children, 
enslave  the  fathers  and  ravish  the  daughters.  Every 
demoniacal  torture  possible  of  invention  by  the  fanatic 
minds  of  the  Inquisitors  was  brought  into  play  to  con- 
vert these  simple  savages.  Says  Abbot  the  historian: 
"Any  act  of  aggression,  inhumanity  or  barbarism,  was 
sanctioned  if  done  in  the  name  of  religion.  Under  the 
banner  of  the  Cross,  the  zest  of  the  vilest  men  could  be 
roused  to  almost  any  work  of  diabolical  crime.  Every 
description  of  wrong  and  outrage  under  the  garb  of 
religion  was  tolerated.  Adultery,  incest,  murder,  per- 
jury and  unmitigated  despotism  in  kings,  popes  and 
queens  were  winked  at,  if  they  were  only  'Defensores 
Fidei.'  *  *  *  It  was  no  mere  fling  of  the  wits  that  the 
priests  were  all  'Fathers'  and  the  Pope  The  Holy 
Father.' " 

After  Cortez— WHAT? 

When  the  flower  of  the  Aztec  nobility  had  given 

up  their  lives  in  vain  to  perpetuate  the  Empire  of 

their  fathers,  when  the  last  of  the  Aztec  Kings,  Guata- 

motzin  had  been  tortured  nigh  unto  death  rather  than 
reveal  the  source  of  the  Aztec  Gold,  that  system  of 
government  was  devised  for  Mexico  which  endured  for 
three  hundred  years  until  LIGHT  came.  It  was  a  sel- 
fish system  of  feudalism  worse  than  that  which  marred 


20  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

the  Europe  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  was  a  Government 
of  Fueros  or  Privileges,  a  gigantic  Government  Trust, 
the  like  of  which  has  been  seen  nowhere  else  in  all  the 
world.  First  came  the  Archbishop  and  his  fat  friars, 
then  the  Viceroy,  a  mere  puppet  of  Pope  and  King, 
after  him  the  nobility  and  the  army.  What  was  left 
— which  was  nothing — was  divided  among  the  hoi 
polloi  or  the  native  born.  Tribute  was  paid  the  King 
of  Spain  as  follows: 

"One-fifth  of  all  gold  or  silver;  a  monopoly  on  tobacco,  salt 
and  gunpowder. 

"All  moneys  received  from  sale  of  Colonial  Offices. 
"An  Oppressive  Revenue  Stamp  Act. 
"Poll-tax  from  each  of  the  native  born." 

A  Few  of  the  Pope's  Perquisites 

In  all  Catholic  countries  the  Church  has  managed 
by  legislative  action  to  amass  an  amazing  amount  of 
property,  real  and  personal.  When  you  consider  that 
almost  naked  the  first  priests  came  to  Mexico,  and  that 
ere  long,  under  the  Viceroyalty  established  by  Spain, 
the  Roman  Catholic  Hierarchy  was  proud  possessor  of 
over  two  hundred  million  dollars  worth  of  land  and 
other  properties  yielding  an  annual  income  of  more 
than  twenty  million  dollars,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that 
when  the  native-born  rose  at  length  in  their  long- 
slumbering  wrath,  they  should  enunciate  the  old  Bible 
Law :  "NAKED  YE  CAME  AND  NAKED  YE  GO  ?" 

If  I  dwell  at  any  length  upon  the  Catholic  Fueros 
it  is  that  you  may  later  understand  the  seeming  strin- 
gency of  the  Masonic  Laws  of  Reform  whereby  the 
descendants  of  the  old  Aztecs  merely  demanded  back 
that  which  was  their  very  own  by  right  of  inheritance, 
asking  only  of  the  lumbering  priests  and  the  fat  friars 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  31 


that  they  take  their  shovel  hats  and  go,  "Naked  ye 
came  and  naked  ye  go." 

As  late  as  1845  our  American  Ambassador  Gen- 
eral Thompson  wrote: 

"The  immense  wealth  which  is  collected  in  the  Churches 
of  Mexico  is  not  by  any  means  all,  or  even  the  larger  portion 
of  the  wealth  of  the  Mexican  Church  and  Clergy.  They  own 
very  many  of  the  finest  houses  in  Mexico  and  other  cities,  (the 
rents  of  which  must  be  enormous),  besides  valuable  real  estate 
all  over  the  Republic.  Almost  every  person  leaves  a  bequest 
in  his  will  for  masses  for  his  soul,  which  constitute  an  encum- 
brance upon  the  estate,  and  thus  nearly  all  the  estates  of  the 
small  proprietors  are  mortgaged  to  the  Church.  *  *  *  As  a 
means  of  raising  money,  I  would  not  give  the  single  institution 
of  the  Catholic  religion  of  masses  and  indulgences  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  souls  of  the  dead,  for  the  power  of  taxation  possessed 
by  any  government.  Of  all  the  artifices  of  cunning  and  venality 
to  extort  money  from  credulous  weakness,  there  is  none  so  po- 
tential as  the  mass  for  the  benefit  of  the  souls  in  purgatory. 
*  *  *  I  have  seen  stuck  up  on  the  door  of  the  Church  of  San 
Francisco,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  magnificent  in  Mexico, 
an  advertisement  of  which  the  following  was  the  substance: 

"HIS  HOLINESS  THE  POPE  HAS  GRANTED  THIRTY- 
TWO  THOUSAND,  THREE  HUNDRED  YEARS,  TEN 
DAYS  AND  SIX  HOURS  OF  INDULGENCE  FOR  THIS 
MASS." 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  a  priest,  Father  Gavazzi, 
pronounced  the  '  'dogma  of  Purgatory"  the  best  gold- 
mine of  the  Papal  System? 

Among  the  Fueros  of  the  Church  were: 

Bulls  de  cruzada  exempting  its  purchaser  from  all 
crimes  except  heresy,  and  most  of  the  fasts  prescribed 
by  the  Church. 

Bulls  de  funtos  the  Bull  for  the  dead,  "a  passport 
for  the  sinner's  soul  from  Purgatory."  This  yielded  a 
nice  revenue  from  the  poor  and  ignorant. 

Bulls  for  eating  milk  and  eggs  during  Lent. 

Bulls  of  Composition  absolving  thieves  from  the 
crime  of  theft  and  necessity  of  restitution. 


22  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

All  necessities  paid  a  tithe  to  the  Church.  All  or- 
namental and  artificial  articles  paid  a  Church  tax.  Es- 
pecially tithable  were  all  luxuries.  A  special  Church 
impost  was  known  as  the  "Alcabala"  levied  upon  all 
merchandise  changing  hands,  privilege  of  transit 
through  Mexico,  etc. 

Says  Abbot: 

"The  aggrandizement  of  the  clerical  body  and  the  accumu- 
lation of  their  wealth  was  almost  incredible.  Churches  and 
convents,  estates  and  treasure,  diamonds,  gold  and  silver, 
swelled  the  accumulations  to  an  aggregate  of  not  less  than  one 
hundred  millions  of  dollars.  The  monasteries  of  the  Dominicans 
and  Carmelites  acquired  immense  riches  in  real  estate,  both  in 
town  and  country." 

Says  another  historian,  Lempriere: 

"The  Mexican  Church  as  a  Church,  fills  no  mission  of  vir- 
tue, no  mission  of  morality,  no  mission  of  mercy,  no  mission  of 
charity.  Virtue  cannot  exist  in  its  pestiferous  atmosphere. 
The  code  of  morality  does  not  come  within  its  practice.  It 
knows  no  mercy,  and  no  emotion  of  charity  ever  nerves  the 
stony  heart  of  that  priesthood,  which,  with  an  avarice  that 
knows  no  limit,  filches  the  last  penny  from  the  diseased  and 
dying  beggar;  plunders  the  widows  and  orphans  of  their  sub- 
stance; as  well  as  their  virtue;  and  casts  such  a  horoscope  of 
horrors  around  the  deathbed  of  the  dying  millionaire,  that  the 
poor,  superstitious  wretch  is  glad  to  purchase  a  chance  for  the 
safety  of  his  soul,  by  making  the  Church  the  heir  to  his  treas- 
ures." 

Under  the  Viceroys,  so  great  was  the  reverence 
demanded  by  the  Clergy  that  the  priests  announced 
their  passage  along  the  streets  by  a  tinkling  of  bells, 
carried  by  an  attendant  who  ran  along  in  front  of  their 
carriage.  Anyone  in  the  immediate  proximity  was 
compelled  to  kneel  and  uncover  as  did  all  those  living 
in  the  houses  by  which  the  procession  passed.  At  the 
first  tinkle  of  the  bell,  the  Mexicans  would  prostrate 
themselves  in  the  dust  crying  "Dios  viene,  Dios  viene," 
(God  comes).    It  was  some  pompous  pageantry  indeed 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  '  23 

when  Senor  Priest  carried  the  Host  to  the  dying  in  old 
Mexico. 

I  think  I  have  said  enough  to  convince  you  how  at 
the  very  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Mexico 
seemed  hopelessly  enslaved  under  the  harsh  rule  of  Ro- 
man Ecclesiasticism  expressing  itself  through  the  pup- 
pet personalities  of  the  Spanish  Viceroys,  who  repre- 
sented a  King  and  a  Cortez  utterly  subservient  to  the 
Pope  of  Rome. 

Although  the  first  priests  came  poverty-stricken 
to  Mexico,  in  the  three  hundred  years  of  their  undis- 
puted sway,  they  became  stupendously  rich  and  forti- 
fied in  what  to  all  seeming,  was  an  impregnable  posi- 
tion. After  the  insatiate  demands  of  Clergy  had  been 
met,  what  was  left  of  the  natural  resources  of  the 
country,  after  paying  perquisites  to  the  King  of  Spain 
as  Suzerain,  went  to  the  enrichment  of  the  Viceroy, 
the  Spanish  satellites  who  made  up  his  court,  and  the 
Army  which  sustained  him  in  power. 

Abject  misery,  dire  poverty  and  slavery  was  the 
lot  of  the  native  born,  the  descendants  of  those  Aztecs 
who  had  once  so  wisely  ruled  old  Mexico. 

Throughout  the  whole  country  the  dread  Inquisi- 
tion flourished  and  held  sway.  The  wretched  victims 
of  this  terrible  Dominican  System  filled  to  overflowing 
the  great  military  prisons  like  San  Juan  de  Uloa,  with 
their  disease-disseminating,  vermin-infested,  dark  dun- 
geons, veritable  hell-holes.  So  unutterably  cruel  were 
the  penalties  exacted  by  the  Inquisitors  for  failure  to 
pay  the  Clerical  Tithes,  or  even  daring  to  speak  against 
the  existing  order  of  government,  the  least  utterance 
that  savored  of  heresy  (which  means  any  divergence 
from  the  teachings  of  Rome)  that  it  is  a  wonder  this 


24  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

politico-religious  SYSTEM  persisted  as  long  as  it  did. 
And  even  much  though  the  native-born  contributed  to 
their  stern  taskmasters,  it  was  never,  never  enough. 

Overseas,  decadent  Spain  was  in  dire  straits;  up- 
on the  Viceroys  of  Mexico  it  devolved  to  pay  the  up- 
keep of  the  extravagant  court  of  the  Bourbons  as  well 
as  to  meet  the  continual  urgent  demands  of  the  CLER- 
ICAL OCTOPUS  which  was  fattening  upon  both  coun- 
tries. 

The  perfect  understanding  existing  between  the 
Viceroys  and  the  Clergy  had  perfected  an  organization 
for  grand  grafting  in  Mexico  that  would  have  made 
our  own  King  of  Grafters,  Boss  Tweed,  and  his  New 
York  Ring  blush  for  shame,  had  the  two  been  placed 
in  open  contrast.  The  intricate  ramifications  of  this 
band  of  politico-religious  plunderers  extended  into  the 
most  remote  rural  districts  of  Spain's  richest  colony. 
All  over  Mexico  the  priesthood  owned  the  choicest 
lands  and  through  their  fat  friars  wielded  absolute 
sway  over  the  humblest  peons.  In  Mexico  City  alone 
the  religious  orders  held  in  fee  simple  three-fourths  of 
the  most  valuable  real  estate.  Vast  tracts  of  land  and 
haciendas  of  fabulous  richness  were  in  the  absolute 
possession  of  two  numerically  small  classes,  Spanish 
aristocrats  and  Catholic  Clergy. 

Of  7,000,000  people  who  made  up  the  Mexican 
population  at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
three-fourths  were  absolutely  landless.  Under  such 
conditions,  there  was  of  course  no  middle  class.  The 
blanketed  hoi  polloi  may  be  said  to  have  merely  ex- 
isted.   It  is  hard  for  them  to  do  even  that  much  today. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  new  century,  Mexico  gave 
the  first  signs  of  an  awakening.    Through  devious  se- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  25 

cret  channels  Light  was  breaking  into  Mexico.  It  be- 
came evident  that  the  people  had  been  reading,  think- 
ing, talking  among  themselves.  For  the  first  time  na- 
tive Mexicans  dared  openly  criticize  the  government, 
the  Viceroys — and  oh  sacrilege — the  Church.  In  the 
public  prints  and  pamphlets  widely  disseminated  na- 
tive writers  dared  voice  views  hitherto  taboo.  They 
found  a  ready,  eager  audience  in  those  who  had  hither- 
to had  their  mental  pabulum  dispensed  by  the  priests. 

From  some  mysterious  source  was  emanating 
New  Light  on  Mexico  spreading  its  refulgent  rays 
throughout  the  country,  and  supplanting  the  hitherto 
somnolent  subservience  of  the  native  born  with  new 
and  feverish  ambitions. 

In  vain  the  Secret  Agents  of  the  Holy  Inquisition 
sought  to  trace  the  promoters  of  the  new  doctrine  of 
LIGHT  and  LIFE  and  LIBERTY,  doctrines  they  knew 
too  well  would  eventually  mean  the  overturning  of  the 
old  established  order,  the  crushing  forever  of  the  SYS- 
TEM, and  the  ending  of  Clericalism  as  an  active  factor 
in  Mexican  politics. 

And  yet  right  in  the  heart  of  Mexico  City,  almost 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Viceroy's  Palace,  at  a  little 
house  Number  Four,  Calle  de  las  Ratas  was  meeting 
regularly  the  first  Masonic  Lodge  ever  established  in 
the  land  of  the  Aztecs,  the  "Arquitectura  Moral" 
Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons  which  was  the 
immediate  predecessor  of  "Valle  de  Mexico  Lodge  No. 
1."  Among  its  members  were  some  of  the  most  in- 
telligent Mexicans  of  that  early  day,  Don  Manuel 
Luyando,  Don  Enrique  Muni,  Don  Manuel  Verdad,  Don 
Gregorio   Martinez,   Don   Feliciano  Vargas,  Don  Jose 


26  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Maria  Espinosa,  Don  Miguel  Betancourt,  Don  Ignacio 
Moreno,  and  Don  Miguel  Dominguez. 

It  is  a  splendid  tribute  to  the  sacred  regard  these 
men  cherished  for  their  Masonic  obligations  that  they 
could  regularly  meet,  work  and  spread  their  propa- 
ganda for  civil  and  religious  liberty  so  long  as  they 
did,  escaping  espionage  from  the  Inquisition  which 
was  supposed  to  have  the  finest  Secret  Service  opera- 
tives of  the  age.  And  yet  it  was  these  pioneer  Masons 
of  Mexico  who  aroused  the  country  to  action.  In  re- 
motest regions  spread  the  Masonic  propaganda  until 
it  reached  the  ears  of  a  native  priest,  Don  Miguel  de 
Hidalgo  who  had  sounded  the  hollowness  of  the  SYS- 
TEM to  its  depths,  and  longed  for  Light,  More  Light. 

Under  the  protecting  shadows  of  night  there  rode 
into  Mexico  City  upon  a  certain  evening,  dust-covered 
and  weary  from  miles  of  mountain  and  desert  travel, 
a  priest  and  a  soldier, — the  former  Don  Miguel  de 
Hidalgo,  Cure  of  the  Parish  Dolores,  the  other,  Don 
Ignacio  Allende.  Taking  lodging  at  No.  5,  Calle  de  las 
Ratas  they  made  themselves  soon  known  to  the  breth- 
ren in  the  house  at  No.  4.  Having  been  found  worthy 
and  well-qualified,  duly  and  truly  prepared,  these  two 
were  successively  inducted  into  the  degrees  of 
APRENDIZ,  COMPANERO  and  MAESTRO,  accord- 
ing to  the  liturgy  of  the  Rito-Antiguo-Aceptado- 
Escoces. 

In  the  unrest  that  spread  over  the  country  the 
first  fluctuation  as  under  all  such  conditions  was  in  the 
financial  situation.  Depression  was  universal.  The 
native  born  Mexicans  attributed  the  near  panic  to  the 
annual  exportation  of  immense  sums  to  Spain,  and  the 
greediness  of  the  Clergy.    The  SYSTEM  accused  the 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  27 

agitators,  the  pamphleteers  and  secret  societies  in 
turn.  In  consequence  the  Inquisition  redoubled  its  ef- 
forts to  meet  the  danger  that  threatened  its  very  ex- 
istence. Spanish  spies  infested  every  street  corner. 
Servitors  in  every  household  were  subsidized  agents 
of  the  Holy  Inquisition.  For  all  one  knew  to  the  con- 
trary, the  eminently  respectable  civilian  living  next 
one's  door,  was  an  accredited  agent  of  the  dominant 
powers. 

Do  you  wonder  then,  that  a  house  just  across  the 
way  from  Number  4  Calle  de  las  Ratas  was  harboring 
a  creature  sent  there  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  spy 
upon  the  brethren  of  the  Moral  Architect  Lodge  of 
Free  and  Accepted  Masons?  In  due  time  this  in- 
famous fellow,  Cabo  Franco  the  spy,  spoke.  The  black- 
garbed  hirelings  of  the  Inquisition  descended  in  force 
upon  our  Mexican  brothers.  A  vigorous  persecution 
ensued. 

Fortunately  Hidalgo  and  Allende  had  left  the  city 
before  the  raid.  In  consequence  the  Inquisitors  had 
to  content  themselves  with  excommunicating  them  as 
"devil-worshippers  and  members  of  an  accursed  sect." 

Not  at  all  perturbed,  Hidalgo  sent  out  his  signs 
and  summons  to  the  craftsmen  sounding  his  grito  of 
defiance  on  September  15,  1810.  The  hour  had  come; 
a  leader  was  ready.  The  long  struggle  for  Mexican 
Independence  which  is  another  word  for  Civil  and  Re- 
ligious Liberty,  Free  Speech,  and  Free  Thought  was 
inchoated. 

After  its  centuries-long  slumber  the  blanketed 
hoi  polloi  of  Mexico  had  aroused  themselves  to  decisive 
action. 

Everywhere  Hidalgo  was  welcomed.     His    first 


28  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

move  was  upon  the  city  of  Guanajuato.  For  weapons 
his  little  army  had  pikes,  machetes,  and  the  most  prim- 
itive mining  implements.  This  undisciplined  mob 
bravely  assailed  the  far-better  equipped  Spaniards 
where  they  had  taken  refuge  in  a  large  granary,  and 
by  sheer  force  of  numbers  and  intrepidity  of  spirit 
carried  everything  before  them.  After  the  victory  of 
Guanajuato,  Hidalgo  and  his  army  of  native  sons  in- 
vested successively  Acambaro,  Celaya,  and  Valladolid, 
all  important  cities. 

The  Viceroy  Venegas  equipped  a  most  formidable 

army  in  Mexico  City.    They  were  the  flower  of  the 

Spanish   mercenaries,    many   of   them  veterans  fresh 

from  the  Wars  in  the  Spanish  Peninsula.  To  assist 
him,  Holy  Church  preached  a  Crusade  against  the 
revolutionaries  and  launched  its  anathemas  against 
Hidalgo  and  his  devoted  band. 

It  was  a  considerable  army  which  marched 
against  the  Mexicans  under  Generals  Hidalgo  and 
Allende.  While  numerically  stronger  by  many  thou- 
sands, the  native-born  labored  under  the  same  advan- 
tages as  their  Aztec  ancestors  of  the  long  ago,  lack 
of  arms,  ammunition  and  equipment.  Normally  vic- 
tory should  have  come  to  the  splendidly  drilled,  thor- 
oughly equipped  Spaniards.  Only  the  fiery  enthusiasm 
of  the  natives,  the  reckless  bravery  of  their  leaders, 
and  the  justice  of  their  cause  enabled  them  to  win  the 
battle  of  Monte  de  las  Cruces. 

For  a  brief  moment  Hidalgo  had  a  vision  of  ulti- 
mate success.  His  foes  routed,  falling  back  upon  the 
city  in  wild  disorder,  his  army  receiving  considerable 
reinforcements  from  the  savage  tribes  of  the  north, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  29 

had  he  acted  with  rapidity,  he  might  have  taken  Mex- 
ico City  without  a  blow. 

Instead,  waiting  to  bury  his  dead,  and  hearkening 
to  the  pleadings  of  his  friends  to  retire  to  Aculco  until 
additional  reinforcements  should  inaugurate  their 
army  to  invincible  proportions,  Hidalgo  delayed,  so  af- 
fording the  Viceroy  and  his  Generals  to  call  in  all 
available  reserves  and  throw  against  him.  Practically 
the  same  elements  contributed  to  the  ultimate  victory 
of  the  Spaniards  as  had  contributed  to  that  of  their 
ancestors  under  Cortez — artillery  of  which  Hidalgo's 
men  had  none,  cavalry  which  hovered  on  the  insur- 
gent flank  and  slowly  wore  the  enemy  out,  and  far  su- 
perior tactical  training.  The  battle  of  Aculco  which 
resulted  in  the  rout  of  the  Mexicans  was  a  veritable 
shambles.  Hotly  pursued  by  the  merciless  Spaniards, 
Hidalgo  and  his  remnant  of  an  army  fled  north.  Worn 
out,  desperate  and  starving,  he  made  one  final  stand 
at  the  little  ford  of  the  river  Calderon,  only  to  be  taken 
prisoner  with  Allende,  Aldama  and  Jiminez,  Master 
Masons  who  had  sworn  to  succeed  or  perish  for  Mex- 
ico. 

With  short  ceremony  these  indomitable  revolu- 
tionists were  shot  and  beheaded — their  gory  skulls  be- 
ing long  displayed  on  pikes  in  front  of  the  granary 
where  they  had  won  their  first  victory. 

The  list  of  heroes  who  sustained  the  struggle  dur- 
ing the  years  following  the  awakening  of  the  Mexican 
people  in  1810  is  a  long  one.  Many  Masons  may  be 
found  in  the  ranks  of  the  patriots — the  illustrious  Don 
Jose  Morelos,  another  priest  who  discarded  the  cassock 
for  the  square  and  compass,  Don  Ignacio  Rayon,  the 
illustrious  Guerrero  a  York  Rite  Mason,  Nicolas  Bravo 


30  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

and  other  Generals  representing  every  district  of  Mex- 
ico. 

For  ten  long  years  the  bitter  struggle  raged  furi- 
ously, Spain  sent  her  mercenaries  across  the  seas  and 
Rome  strengthened  the  waning  cause  of  the  Spanish 
Arms  by  excommunicating  all  who  dared  rally  around 
the  red,  white  and  green  banner  of  the  Revolutionists. 
That  fetich  hitherto  supreme — the  Curse  of  Rome — 
now  fell  flat.  Masonic  Light  had  come  to  the  Native 
Sons.  They  knew  the  real  nature  of  the  Holy  Inquisi- 
tion, and  men  who  but  a  few  short  years  before  had 
bowed  supinely  to  its  crushing  yoke,  now  rushed  into 
the  ranks  of  the  Nation's  Armies  to  fight  and  die  with 
the  consciousness  that  others  would  fall  in  behind 
them  sword  in  hand  nor  give  up  the  good  and  glorious 
fight  until  the  last  accursed  Spaniard  had  been  driven 
south  into  the  sea.  "Naked  ye  came  and  naked  ye 
go,"  was  and  is  the  slogan  of  the  native  born  of  Ana- 
huac. 

In  the  Royalist  Armies  was  a  General,  Don  Au- 
gustin  de  Iturbide  whose  meteoric  career  had  made 
him  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  patriots  for  years.  By 
some  strange  play  of  fate  he  came  in  touch  with  the 
Masons  of  Mexico  City,  knocked  at  the  portals  of  the 
lodgeroom,  and  received  Masonic  Light.  Anxious  to 
right  the  wrongs  his  sword  had  perpetrated  upon  his 
own  people,  Iturbide  besought  and  secured  from  the 
unsuspecting  Viceroy  the  command  of  an  expedition- 
ary army  which  was  being  raised  against  the  patriot 
General,  Don  Vicente  Guerrero.  Having  led  his  forces 
from  the  city  into  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  the 
north,  Iturbide  sent  trusted  messengers  to  Guerrero 
requesting  an  interview.    The  two  forces  met  in  a  de- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  31 

file.    Iturbide  made  himself  known  as  a  Mason  to  the 
revolutionary  veteran  and  the  two  joined  forces. 

As  soon  as  the  alliance  of  these  two  Masonic  lead- 
ers became  known,  the  revolutionary  bands  flocked  to 
the  new  movement  from  all  sides.  At  the  head  of  a 
most  formidable  force,  Iturbide  quickly  invested  the 
cities  of  Vallodolid,  Queretaro  and  Puebla,  three  keys 
to  the  Mexican  capitol. 

In  view  of  the  failure  such  movements  as  his 
had  been  in  the  past,  so  colossal  an  undertaking  as  that 
precipitately  planned  by  General  Iturbide  might  have 
dismayed  one  less  astute  and  far-seeing.  He  had  man- 
aged however  to  attach  to  himself  through  ultra-clever 
intrigues  Mexicans  of  all  parties,  ecclesiastical,  politi- 
cal, military  and  Masonic.  Advancing  upon  the  new 
Viceroy  General  O'Donoju,  freshly  arrived  from  Spain, 
he  had  no  difficulty  in  convincing  that  doughty  old 
soldier  that  resistance  would  be  useless.  On  Septem- 
ber 21,  1821,  Iturbide  entered  Mexico  City  in  complete 
control  of  the  country. 

Before  Spain  had  fully  recovered  from  the  sur- 
prise and  humiliation  of  this  practically  bloodless  coup, 
the  Liberator  General  of  the  Mexican  people  had  com- 
pletely organized  the  new  government,  abolished  the 
restrictive  laws  of  the  Spaniards  and  for  the  first  time 
accorded  the  Nationals  recognition.  By  a  vote  of  four 
to  one  the  Mexican  Congress  acclaimed  him  Emperor. 

And  now  prosperity  undid  this  astute  Mexican. 
He  reverted  to  his  type,  the  old  aristocracy.  His  court 
became  a  place  of  gorgeous  ceremonials.  He  at- 
tempted to  create  a  New  World  aristocracy.  Such 
tried  and  true  friends  as  his  brother  Masons,  Generals 


32  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Guerrero   and   Victoria   were   relegated  to  the  back- 
ground.   Sadly  they  withdrew. 

In  the  hour-glass,  that  emblem  of  human  life 
swiftly  ran  the  sands  of  time  for  this  short-lived  Em- 
peror. 

Another  Mason,  General  Don  Antonio  Lopez  De 
Santa  Anna  of  the  Scottish  Rite  proclaimed  against 
him.  And  to  the  new  standard  of  revolt  rallied  such 
old-time  Masons  as  Victoria,  Guerrero  and  Bravo. 

In  vain  Iturbide  sent  signs  and  summons  to  the 
craftsmen  to  rally  around  the  Imperial  standard.  The 
magic  of  its  name  had  lost  its  charm.  The  Ides  of 
March  had  come  for  this  New  World  Csesar.  Reading 
the  handwriting  upon  the  wall  Iturbide  abdicated.  He 
realized  that  one  mere  man  might  not  prevail  against 
the  forces  of  Scottish  and  York  Rite  Masonry  which 
had  elevated  him  to  a  throne,  and  when  weighing  him 
in  the  balance  had  found  him  sadly  wanting. 

Under  a  liberal  pension  Iturbide  was  permitted  to 
depart  for  foreign  shores,  where  in  distant  exile  he 
yearned  and  waited  for  a  recall. 

In  Santa  Anna,  the  fallen  Emperor  possessed  a 
more  bitter  foe  than  he  had  dreamed.  That  aspiring 
young  politician,  fully  appreciating  the  calibre  of  the 
soldier-emperor  who  had  terminated  Spanish  rule  in 
one  short  year,  craftily  prevailed  upon  the  Mexican 
Congress  to  enact  a  law  decreeing  the  death  of  Don 
Augustin  de  Iturbide  should  he  ever  again  set  foot  on 
Mexican  soil.  Unable  longer  to  endure  the  bitterness 
of  exile,  Iturbide  did  return  to  cast  himself  upon  the 
mercies  of  his  own  people.  Instead  of  the  welcome  he 
anticipated  he  met  the  coldest  of  receptions  at  Vera 
Cruz.    A  night  in  prison  and  in  the  early  morning  he 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  33 

was  led  out  to  be  shot  from  a  living  perpendicular  to  a 
dead  level. 

And  now  the  Mexicans  came  into  their  very  own 
for  a  brief  space.  A  Republic  was  proclaimed.  A 
peon  of  the  peons  became  First  President,  General 
Guadalupe  Victoria. 

While  patriot  Masons  had  been  fighting  in  the 
field,  not  at  all  had  the  craftsmen  been  idle  in  Mexico 
City.  If  the  Inquisitors  thought  to  forever  end  Mex- 
ican Masonry,  when  they  raided  the  Moral  Architect 
Lodge  in  Calle  de  las  Ratas  No.  4,  took  possession  of 
the  Book  of  Constitutions  and  Records,  they  were 
quite  mistaken.  Although  they  did  disperse  the  breth- 
ren only  to  later  hound  them  individually,  they  could 
not  with  all  the  intricate  machinery  of  the  Church  pre- 
vent the  spread  of  Masonic  Light. 

In  1813  there  was  established  in  Mexico  the  first 
Grand  Lodge  under  the  Scottish  Rite.  Its  Grand  Mas- 
ter was  Don  Felipe  Martinez  Aragon.  It  was  this  body 
that  numbered  among  its  craftsmen  Iturbide  and 
Santa  Anna.  Under  its  jurisdiction  a  number  of  sub- 
ordinate lodges  sprang  up  throughout  the  country.  In 
1816  the  Grand  Lodge  chartered  lodges  at  Vera  Cruz 
and  at  Campeche.  In  1824,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Penn- 
sylvania charted  a  lodge  at  Alvarado. 

The  craft  was  sufficiently  strong  to  become  a  for- 
midable factor  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  Mexican 
Nation  after  the  declaration  of  the  Republic  in  1824. 
For  its  very  existence  sake  it  was  compelled  to  have 
a  hand  in  the  politics  of  the  time.  Arrayed  against  it 
was  the  horrible  Octopus  of  the  Inquisition  whose  ten- 
tacles still  extend  all  over  the  country.  Better  than 
anyone  else  the  Freemasons  of  Mexico  realized  that 


34  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

by  no  possible  manner  of  means  could  the  Light  of 
Liberty  cast  its  refulgent  rays  over  Mexico,  as  long  as 
the  dungeons  of  San  Juan  de  Uloa,  and  the  gloomy 
cells  of  the  Acordado  and  Belem  Prison  were  packed 
to  overflowing  with  the  native  sons  still  in  durance  on 
charges  of  Heresy,  or  because  of  past  inability  to  meet 
the  clamorous  demands  of  the  tithe-taking  friars  of 
Rome. 

And  so  you  see  in  addition  to  its  own  heritage  of 
hate  because  of  the  cruelties  inflicted  on  the  brethren 
of  Moral  Architect  Lodge,  these  later  craftsmen  found 
their  mission  clear  before  them  in  fighting  the  In- 
quisition to  the  bitter  end.  Again  it  was  to  be  a  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest,  a  duello  al  muerte  between  the  Sons 
of  Loyola  and  the  Brotherhood  of  LIGHT. 

Another  element  entered  into  Mexican  Masonry 
at  this  time.  The  American  Minister  to  Mexico, 
Brother  Joel  Poinsett  was  a  Mason  of  highest  stand- 
ing in  the  American  York  Rite.  In  1825  there  came 
to  him  a  number  of  the  leaders  of  the  Mexican  Scottish 
Rite  who  had  become  dissatisfied  with  the  political 
machinations  of  Santa  Anna  and  other  leaders  of  the 
pioneer  Mexican  body,  and  now  besought  charters  for 
their  lodges  under  the  American  York  Rite.  As  they 
were  all  men  of  high  repute  in  the  Mexican  Capitol, 
Bro.  Poinsett  exerted  himself  in  their  behalf  and  in 
due  time  the  Mexican  York  Grand  Lodge  was  char- 
tered through  the  Grand  Lodge  of  New  York  with 
General  Vincente  Guerrero  as  its  first  Grand  Master. 

From  now  on  there  commenced  a  bitter  struggle 
for  dominance  between  the  two  Mexican  Masonic 
bodies,  Scottish  and  York,  interspersed  with  the  in- 
evitable conflict  with  the  Church  Party. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  35 

In  the  early  stages  of  Mexican  Masonry  both  York 
and  Scottish  Rite  bodies  included  in  its  membership 
some  of  the  native  born  priests.  Their  numbers  were 
sufficient  to  prevail  upon  the  leaders  to  publicly  ob- 
serve certain  feasts  in  honor  of  the  Virgin.  The  Scot- 
tish Rite  chose  to  honor  the  Virgin  of  Pilar,  while  the 
York  Rite  selected  a  rival  Virgin  in  Our  Lady  of  Guada- 
lupe. 

Ignoring  these  little  courtesies,  the  Church  offi- 
cially from  its  pulpits  anathematized  Masons  of  all 
Rites.  In  1828  there  were  one  hundred  and  two  lodges 
under  York  Rite  jurisdiction  in  Mexico. 

A  definite  policy  inherited  from  the  Moral  Archi- 
tect Lodge  was  now  having  genesis.  In  its  early  mani- 
festations it  vaguely  dealt  with  ways  and  means  to  re- 
form the  aggrandizement  of  the  Catholic  Clergy,  and 
a  final  separation  between  Church  and  State. 

A  great  many  Mexican  Scottish  Rite  Masons  now 
awakened  to  the  treacherous  politics  being  played  by 
one  of  their  leaders,  General  Santa  Anna.  This 
reached  a  culmination  when  the  President  Guerrero, 
also  Grand  Master  of  the  York  Rite  was  ruthlessly 
executed  to  eliminate  him  from  politics.  A  number  of 
Masons  of  both  the  York  and  Scottish  Rites  met  and 
agreed  that  the  time  was  ripe  for  a  distinctive  Mex- 
ican Masonic  Rite  which  might  unite  both  factions 
more  strongly  against  their  common  foe,  the  Church 
Party. 

So  was  established  the  Mexican  National  Rite 
composed  of  both  Scottish  and  York  Rite  Masons,  and 
announcing  this  signs  and  summons  to  the  craftsmen 
throughout  the  Republic: — "Among  Mexican  Masons 
should   exist   peace   and   harmony,   so   insuring  the 


36  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

strength  of  the  institution:  whenever,  wherever  cir- 
cumstances make  it  necessary,  war  must  be  waged 
upon  the  Clergy,  the  common  foe  of  all  Masonic 
Bodies.  In  1833  the  leaders  of  the  New  Rite  formu- 
lated their  fixed  policies  as  follows: 

"Absolute  freedom  of  thought  and  speech:  the  freedom  of 
the  press ;  the  abolishment  of  all  the  peculiar  privileges  claimed 
by  the  Catholic  Clergy,  and  the  Military  Caste  as  a  heritage; 
suppression  of  Monastic  Institutions;  curtailment  of  monopo- 
lies; the  full  protection  of  Liberal  Arts  and  Industries;  the 
development  of  Libraries  and  Free  Schools;  the  abolishment  of 
capital  punishment." 

If  you  will  compare  this  initial  platform  with  the 
famous  Laws  of  Reform  embodied  in  the  Mexican 
Constitution  of  1859,  you  will  find  them  substantially 
the  same  with  a  few  needed  additions.  It  is  these 
Laws  of  Reform  which  represent  the  purest  of  Ma- 
sonic principles  to  which  the  great  Mason  Benito 
Juarez  devoted  his  efforts  and  life;  which  Diaz  kept 
in  force  until  a  few  years  prior  to  1910,  and  whose 
abrogation  by  Diaz  permitting  the  return  of  the  Jesu- 
its and  increasing  influence  of  the  Church  Party,  led 
to  the  Revolution  by  Francisco  Madero  Jr.  It  was  to 
enforce  them  that  Madero  and  his  brother  Mason 
Suarez  gave  up  their  lives  to  the  assassin;  it  is  to  en- 
force them  that  Don  Venustiano  Carranza  is  now 
standing  with  his  back  to  the  wall  in  the  last  breach 
of  the  Masonic  defenses.  I  will  speak  more  at  length 
of  them  later. 

Upon  the  formation  of  the  New  Rite,  General 
Santa  Anna,  utterly  undismayed  by  the  silent  rebuke 
administered  him  by  his  brethren  in  inchoating  the 
Mexican  National  Rite  and  leaving  him  without  its 
pale,  plunged  more  feverishly  into  the  maelstrom  of 
Mexican  politics,  carrying  behind  him  a  considerable 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  37 

faction  of  the  old  Mexican  Scottish  Rite.  With  their 
influence  he  succeeded  in  becoming  five  times  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic,  and  five  times  Military  Dictator. 

Conscienceless  politician  that  he  was,  Santa  Anna 
did  not  scorn  to  call  to  his  aid  when  need  was,  the 
powerful  Hierarchy  of  Rome.  More  times  than  one 
in  those  stormy  days  the  Church  Party  held  the  bal- 
ance of  power.  It  was  then  that  Santa  Anna  made 
concessions.  It  was  then  that  he  decreed  that  in- 
famous platform  upon  which  Mexican  Catholics  have 
made  their  stand  from  that  day  to  this.  Let  us  sum- 
marize it: 

"Church  property  and  Church  revenues  shall  be  inviolable. 

"There  shall  be  restoration  in  toto  of  the  special  fueros  or 
privileges  of  the  Clergy  and  Military  Caste. 

"Reaffirmation  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Religion  as  the  one 
and  only  Religion  of  Mexico. 

"Censorship  of  the  Press  and  Public  Expression. 

"The  confining  of  immigration  to  individuals  from  Cath- 
olic countries. 

"The  abolition  of  the  Institute  of  Sciences  at  Oaxaca." 

This  college  so  particularly  referred  to  was  one 
which  numbered  in  its  faculty  some  of  the  most  active 
adherents  of  the  Mexican  National  Masonic  Rite. 

Occasionally  Santa  Anna  chose  to  humiliate  the 
Church  Party  which  at  heart  he  truly  hated.  Such 
was  enforcing  them  to  arrange  a  most  elaborate  fun- 
eral ceremony  over  the  leg  he  had  lost  at  Vera  Cruz. 

Rome  never  forgets:  never  forgives.  Two  years 
after  this  droll  funeral  ceremony,  the  Archbishop  of 
Mexico  placed  the  ban  of  the  Church  upon  Santa 
Anna's  demand  for  a  forced  loan  of  $4,000,000.  The 
Army  too  revolted,  "No  dinero,  no  combate."  That 
is  a  military  tradition  in  Mexico. 

Santa  Anna  abandoned  by  his  Clerical  supporters 


38  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

gathered  what  money  was  at  hand  in  the  Treasury 
and  departed  on  one  of  his  usual  pleasant  vacations 
in  foreign  climes — at  the  expense  of  the  Mexican  Re- 
public. 

During  his  absence  the  Mexican  National  Rite 
gained  in  power.  From  the  Masonic  College  at  Oaxaca, 
was  turned  out  a  small  army  of  educated  young  men 
fully  equipped  to  fight  the  battle  of  Liberalism  as  op- 
posed to  Clericalism  in  Mexico.  Among  them  were 
Juarez,  Diaz,  Perez  and  other  youths  destined  for  the 
seats  of  the  mighty  in  their  native  land. 

Only  the  long  war  with  the  United  States  pre- 
cluded the  earlier  inchoation  of  the  fight  for  Civil  Lib- 
erty. Santa  Anna  recalled  to  take  command  of  the 
Mexican  Armies  made  a  dismal  failure,  facing  reverse 
after  reverse  at  Santa  Fe,  Matamoras,  Monterey, 
Bracito,  San  Luis  Potosi,  Vera  Cruz,  Cerra  Gordo, 
Churubusco  and  finally  Mexico  City. 

In  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  consummat- 
ing peace  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  Santa 
Anna  had  but  little  voice.  In  1853  the  fickle  Mexicans 
permitted  him  to  return.  He  at  once  proclaimed  him- 
self Dictator.  His  first  official  act  was  the  same  mis- 
take which  ultimately  led  to  the  downfall  of  his  great- 
er successor  Diaz.  He  gave  permission  to  the  Jesuits 
to  return  to  Mexico  from  which  they  had  long  been 
banished.  Awakening  to  the  fact  that  his  tenure  of 
office  was  doomed,  Santa  Anna  dispatched  Senor  Es- 
trada, a  leader  of  the  Church  Party,  to  Europe  to 
carry  on  negotiations  for  the  coming  of  Maximilian  as 
Emperor.    He  was  willing  to  surrender  control  of  his 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  39 

country  to  the  Church  Party  if  only  he  might  deal  a 
deathblow  to  Juarez  and  the  Liberal  Party. 

There  came  the  sudden  deposition  of  Santa  Anna, 
a  trial  for  high  treason,  his  sentence  to  death  by  hang- 
ing. This  sometime  Master  of  Mexico  was  in  dire 
straits  indeed.  A  greater  Mexican  than  he,  a  man 
of  finer  mould,  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  true  prin- 
ciples of  Masonic  Charity,  Don  Benito  Juarez  com- 
muted his  sentence  to  exile.  And  so  Santa  Anna 
ceased  to  trouble  Mexico. 

One  Mexican  Mason  stands  out  upon  the  pages  of 
history  as  the  particular  champion  and  defender  of 
the  Liberal  Party  upon  a  platform  as  pure  in  its  prin- 
ciples as  any  ever  enunciated  in  any  Republic  of  the 
world.  Don  Benito  Juarez,  a  full-blooded  Indian,  a 
lineal  descendant  of  the  original  owners  of  Anahuac 
or  Mexico,  after  a  thorough  training  in  the  Institute 
of  Sciences  at  Oaxaca  took  up  the  practice  of  law  but 
not  for  long.  The  Liberals  recognized  his  particular 
fitness  to  wage  the  struggle  against  the  Church  Party 
on  the  basic  principles  of  "equal  rights  for  all  men; 
universal  freedom  in  the  exercise  of  man's  inalienable 
rights;  the  reform  of  abuses;  freedom  of  conscience, 
of  opinion,  of  speech,  of  worship,  of  the  press ;  of  uni- 
versal education,  and  nationalization  of  all  Church 
Property  with  complete  separation  of  Church  and 
State." 

So  effectively  did  Benito  Juarez  establish  these 
principles  while  Governor  of  his  native  state  of  Oaxaca 
that  he  was  elected  representative  to  the  Federal  Con- 
gress, to  be  later  appointed  Minister  of  Justice  under 
the  President.  In  all  his  busy  career  he  never  neg- 
lected his  Masonic  associations  and  rose  rapidly  to  be 


40  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Sovereign  Inspector  General  of  the  Mexican  National 
Rite  and  a  brother  of  the  thirty-third  degree. 

•  From  his  very  entrance  into  National  Politics 
Benito  Juarez  declared  himself  in  favor  of  Govern- 
ment Of  the  People,  By  the  People,  and  For  the  Peo- 
ple. It  was  this  principle  which  permeated  the  Law 
which  bears  his  name,  the  famous  Laws  of  Reform, 
laws  which  have  been  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Church 
Party  ever  since.  Its  enforcement  has  ever  been 
fought  by  the  Clericals  because  of  its  utter  suppres- 
sion of  "the  privileged"  and  especial  tribunals  and  char- 
ters of  the  clergy  and  the  army.  All  of  the  Reforms 
sponsored  by  Don  Benito  Juarez,  especially  Article 
XV,  establishing  absolute  freedom  of  all  religious 
creeds,  were  embodied  in  the  famous  Constitution  of 
1857  which  with  few  changes  has  been  in  force  ever 
since. 

In  1858  Benito  Juarez  was  officially  recognized  as 
President  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  He  appointed  a 
Cabinet  whom  he  knew  to  be  in  complete  sympathy 
with  his  determination  to  enforce  the  laws  of  reform. 

Then  followed  the  "Three  Years'  "  War  during 
which  Juarez  with  a  depleted  treasury  found  himself 
opposed  to  the  Church  Party,  a  considerable  number 
of  able  Generals  and  the  boundless  resources  made  pos- 
sible by  an  immense  income  derived  from  the  vested 
wealth  cumulative  during  three  hundred  years.  For 
three  years  Juarez  was  forced  to  move  his  seat  of 
Government  from  city  to  city,  from  state  to  state,  con- 
stantly harassed  by  the  Catholic  Armies  under  Zu- 
loaga  and  Miramon.  The  indomitable  spirit  of  the 
Liberals  eventually  prevailed  and  in  December  of  1860 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  41 

Juarez  led  his  victorious  army  into  the  Mexican  Cap- 
itol. 

The  triumph  of  the  Liberals  was  destined  to  be 
shortlived  however.  While  the  militant  Catholics  were 
fighting  the  battles  of  the  Church  at  home,  unpatriotic 
ambassadors  like  de  Estrada  were  sowing  seeds  at  the 
various  Courts  of  Europe  to  focus  the  avarice  of  for- 
eign potentates  upon  poor  Mexico  which  they  declared 
was  a  rich  cow  ready  for  the  milking.  As  an  ally  of 
their  pernicious  meddling  they  had  behind  them  Pope 
Pius  IX  who  fully  realized  that  the  triumph  of  Juarez 
meant  the  death  of  Clericalism  as  an  active  factor  in 
Mexican  politics. 

After  the  flight  of  Miramon  in  1860,  Napoleon  III 
persuaded  England  and  France  to  join  him  in  a  dem- 
onstration against  the  Republican  Government  of 
Mexico  in  an  effort  to  force  the  payment  of  large 
ilaims  long  due  on  the  Mexican  National  Debt  and 
hitherto  unpaid  because  of  the  Three  Years'  War  and 
the  lack  of  time  afforded  the  Republicans  to  recoup 
their  treasury.  When  England  and  Spain  fully  un- 
derstood the  inability  of  Mexico  to  at  once  meet  their 
claims,  they  had  faith  enough  in  the  sterling  char- 
acter of  President  Juarez  to  withdraw  their  represen- 
tatives and  wait. 

Not  so  Napoleon  the  Third  for  France. 

The  claims  presented  by  France  against  Mexico 
were  most  unjust  and  astounding.  During  the  brief 
period  of  supremacy  enjoyed  by  the  Church  Party  un- 
der the  leadership  of  General  Miramon,  these  unrecog- 
nized and  unconstitutional  authorities  in  temporary 
control  sponsored  bonds  issued  by  a  Swiss  banker, 
Jecker,  which  with  interest  amounted  to  $15,000,000 


42  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

and  although  the  constitutional  Republican  Govern- 
ment of  Juarez  had  not  enjoyed  one  penny  of  this 
amount,  France  demanded  that  his  government  pay 
it.  In  addition  a  bulk  claim  of  $12,000,000  for  injuries 
and  losses  undergone  by  French  citizens  was  pre- 
sented without  affidavits  or  particularization  of  one 
individual  case.  While  repudiating  utterly  these  two 
items  Juarez  was  willing  to  allow  the  original  National 
debt  of  $750,000  with  five  per  cent  interest  which  of 
course  France  would  not  hear  to. 

So  much  for  the  reputed  reason  for  French  inter- 
vention. The  real  reason  and  underlying  cause  was 
the  realization  of  the  Church  Party  that  the  end  of 
their  tenure  in  Mexico  had  come.  Compare  this  sum- 
mary of  the  Laws  of  Reforms  as  enunciated  by  the 
Constitution  of  1857  and  the  Allocution  of  Pope  Pius 
IX  declaring  the  Catholic  Position. 

Those  admirable  enactments  which  follow  form 
the  distinctly  Masonic  Laws  fought  for  and  sustained 
by  Juarez,  maintained  by  Porfirio  Diaz  until  a  young 
wife  and  extreme  old  age  led  him  to  let  down  the 
barriers  safeguarding  the  Republic,  reinforced  by  the 
Mason  Madero,  and  now  being  fought  for  by  Carranza 
who  only  this  month  reiterated  his  firm  intention  of 
supporting  this  Constitution.  Hear  them  and  judge. 
They  were: 

"Laws  establishing  liberty  for  all  opinions,  liberty  of  the 
press,  and  liberty  of  faith  and  worship. 

"Laws  granting  to  the  members  of  all  denominations  the 
right  of  establishing  schools  and  colleges. 

"Laws  permitting  the  intermarriage  on  terms  of  religious 
equality  of  Catholics  and  Protestants. 

"Laws  establishing  public  schools  for  secular  education 
that  shall  be  free  from  the  control  of  the  Roman  priesthood." 

I  have  already  mentioned  the  abolition  of  religious 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  43 

orders,  the  nationalization  of  Church  Properties,  and 
the  nullifying  of  the  Fueros  or  especial  privileges  also 
embodied  in  this  Constitution. 

What  the  viewpoint  of  the  Church  Party  was  and 
is  today  of  this  Constitution  of  1857  is  best  set  forth 
in  this  summary  of  the  famous  Allocution  of  Pope 
Pius  IX,  a  Papal  head  who  had  an  especial  weakness 
for  meddling  in  the  political  affairs  of  other  countries. 
While  writing  officially  to  Jefferson  Davis  as  President 
of  the  Confederacy  this  most  indiscreet  Papal  Head 
could  disrespectfully  refer  to  our  own  Chief  Magis- 
trate as  "Lincoln  &  Company."  Hear  now  his  posi- 
tion on  Mexico: 

"The  Catholic  Church  ought  freely  to  exercise  un- 
til the  end  of  time  a  salutary  force,  not  only  with  re- 
gard to  each  individual  man,  but  with  regard  to  na- 
tions, peoples  and  their  rulers. 

"The  best  condition  of  society  is  that  in  which 
the  power  of  the  laity  is  compelled  to  inflict  the  penal- 
ties of  the  law  upon  violators  of  the  Catholic  religion. 

"The  opinion  that  'liberty  of  conscience  and  oi 
worship  is  the  right  of  every  man/  is  net  only  an  'er- 
roneous opinion,  very  hurtful  to  the  safety  of  the 
Catholic  Church  and  of  souls/  but  is  also  'delirium/ 

"Liberty  of  speech  and  press  is  the  liberty  of 
perdition. 

"The  judgments  of  the  holy  see,  even  when  they 
do  not  speak  of  points  of  faith  and  morals,  claim  ac- 
quiescence and  obedience,  under  pain  of  sin  and  loss 
of  the  Catholic  profession. 

"It  is  false  to  say  that  every  man  is  free  to  em- 
brace and  profess  the  religion  he  shall  believe  true,  or 


44  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

that  'those  who  profess  and  embrace  any  religion  may 
obtain  eternal  salvation.' 

"The  Church  has  the  power  of  availing  herself  of 
force,  or  of  direct  or  indirect  temporal  power. 

"In  a  legal  conflict  between  the  ecclesiastical  and 
civil  powers  the  ecclesiastical  'ought  to  prevail/ 

"It  is  a  false  and  pernicious  doctrine  that  the 
public  schools  should  be  open  without  distinction  to 
all  children  of  the  people  and  free  from  all  ecclesias- 
tical authority. 

"It  is  false  to  say  that  the  principle  of  non-inter- 
vention must  be  proclaimed  and  observed. 

"It  is  necessary  in  the  present  day  that  the  Cath- 
olic religion  shall  be  held  as  the  only  religion  of  the 
State,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  modes  of  worship." 

Here  you  have  the  ideal  platform  of  government 
from  a  Catholic  standpoint.  It  represents  Clerical 
Conservatism  as  opposed  to  Masonic  Liberalism,  a  de- 
structive force  as  opposed  to  a  constructive  force.  It 
served  as  the  motive  for  the  invasion  of  a  helpless  na- 
tion by  the  troops  of  a  French  Emperor  who  was  the 
puppet  supporter  of  this  same  Pope. 

As  to  what  the  United  States  thought  of  so 
bigoted  an  utterance  you  may  know  by  referring  back 
to  Congressional  Records  and  reading  the  speech  of 
Hon.  Mr.  Bingham  before  Congress.    He  said  in  part: 

"The  syllabus  is  an  attempt  to  fetter  the  freedom  of  con- 
science; it  is  an  attempt  to  fetter  the  freedom  of  speech;  it  is 
an  attempt  to  strike  down  the  rising  antagonism  against  every 
despotism  on  the  face  of  the  earth;  in  the  form  of  representa- 
tive government,  foremost  among  which  is  America,  the  child 
and  hope  of  the  earth's  old  age:  *  *  *  Under  the  omnipotent 
power  of  that  utterance,  every  tyrant,  whether  in  Rome  or  out 
of  it,  holds  today  the  reins  of  power  with  a  tremulous  and  un- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  45 


steady  hand,  and  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  very 
throne  of  his  power  shall  turn  to  dust  and  ashes  before  the 
consuming  breath  of  the  enlightened  public  opinion  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  which  declares  for  free  government,  free  churches, 
free  schools,  free  Bibles  and  free  men.' 


» 


In  1864  the  Catholic  Archduke  of  Austria,  Maxi- 
milian, sustained  by  fifty  thousand  mercenaries  under 
Marshal  Bazaine  entered  Mexico  City.  An  empire  was 
proclaimed.  The  Church  Party  was  once  more  dom- 
inant. 

During  the  next  few  years  the  Constitutional 
President  Benito  Juarez  was  really  head  of  a  peri- 
patetic Government  having  his  capitol  now  at  San  Luis 
Potosi,  now  at  Chihuahua,  now  at  El  Paso  Del  Norte 
now  named  after  him.  Not  once  did  he  leave  his  coun- 
try. Not  once  would  he  admit  that  the  Laws  of  Re- 
form were  not  still  in  force.  A  faithful  Army  of 
Liberals,  the  backbone  of  the  Mexican  Nation,  sus- 
tained their  President,  and  refused  to  be  beaten  by  the 
splendidly  equipped  veterans  of  France. 

It  took  two  years  to  convince  Napoleon  III  that 
Mexico  was  not  to  be  conquered;  could  not  be  Cathol- 
icized. Even  while  the  French  mercenaries  in  Mexico 
were  openly  boasting  that  they  had  forever  abrogated 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  Secretary  Seward  through  our 
American  Ambassador  at  Paris  sent  the  French  Gov- 
ernment Official  notification  that  the  United  States 
would  not  tolerate  any  effort  of  European  Nations  to 
overthrow  Republican  Institutions  on  this  continent, 
and  intimated  that  France  would  be  allowed  a  reason- 
able time  to  withdraw  its  forces  from  Mexico.  Na- 
poleon read  checkmate  in  this  letter  and  did  eventually 
withdraw.  The  Church  Party  still  sustained  by  im- 
mense  wealth,   and  by  the   three  Clerical  Generals, 


46  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Miramon,  Mejia  and  Marquez  sought  to  stay  the  ad- 
vance of  the  Liberal  Armies  from  the  north  by  the  in- 
famous Black  Decree  condemning  all  men  found  with 
arms,  and  not  under  the  Emperor's  commission,  to 
death.  City  after  city  fell.  The  last  stronghold  of  the 
Clericals  Queretaro  capitulated.  In  mid-June  1867 
Maximilian,  Miramon  and  Mejia  paid  for  their  cruel 
invasion  of  Republican  sovereignty  with  their  lives. 

President  Juarez  now  assumed  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment at  Mexico  City  and  during  his  brief  tenure 
from  1867  to  1871  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the 
Constitution  of  1857  enacted  into  practical  operation 
with  the  most  general  good  for  all  of  Mexico. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  of  his  successors  General 
Porfirio  Diaz  who  for  thirty  years  governed  under  this 
Constitution  saw  the*  Republic  prosper  into  a  condi- 
tion which  gained  it  a  high  place  among  the  nations 
of  the  world.  Foreign  capital  was  poured  into  the 
country,  its  investors  being  convinced  of  absolute  pro- 
tection under  one  of  the  most  liberal  of  Republican 
Constitutions  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

Railroads  were  developed,  the  great  mining  re- 
sources of  the  country  opened  up,  oil  fields  financed, 
foreign  relations  of  the  most  advantageous  sort 
cemented,  peace  assured — it  seemed  indeed  as  though 
Mexico  had  become  a  wonderland  of  good  government, 
sterling  citizenship,  square  dealing — when  wonder  of 
wonders — shortly  before  1910  General  Porfirio  Diaz 
relaxed  many  of  the  cherished  protective  enactments 
of  the  Constitution  of  1857 ;  restored  many  of  the  old 
Catholic  privileges;  allowed  the  return  of  certain  re- 
ligious orders;  made  it  possible  once  again  for  the 
priest  to  play  politics.     A  Mason,  Madero  protested. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  4? 

He  championed  the  candidacy  of  General  Venustiano 
Carranza  for  the  Governorship  of  his  state  of  Coa- 
huila,  and  saw  the  very  principles  of  the  Constitution 
of  1857  as  assuring  honest  ballot,  free  speech,  and  free 
press  put  to  shame.  When  Francisco  Madero  Jr.  con- 
vinced the  people  that  Porfirio  Diaz  had  surrendered 
to  the  influences  of  his  young  Catholic  wife's  influen- 
tial Catholic  family,  that  the  very  existence  of  the  be- 
loved Masonic  Constitution  would  be  henceforth  in 
danger,  he  found  the  craftsmen  eager  and  prepared  to 
answer  his  signs  and  summons.  From  the  inchoation 
of  the  Madero  movement  to  the  abdication  and  pre- 
cipitate flight  of  Porfirio  Diaz  from  Vera  Cruz,  Mex- 
ico was  in  turmoil  of  excitement.  With  the  assump- 
tion of  the  Presidency  by  Madero  affairs  apparently 
quieted  down  and  the  old  march  of  progress  and  pros- 
perity again  began. 

President  Francisco  I.  Madero  was  an  unusually 
high  type  of  Mexican  Masonry.  Had  he  been  spared. 
it  is  almost  certain  that  the  unrest  and  anarchy  which 
has  marked  Mexico  since  his  overthrow  could  have 
been  averted.  Madero  and  his  able  Vice  President 
Brother  Pino  Suarez  33,  stood  for  our  highest  Mason- 
ic Ideals.  They  fell,  martyrs  of  intolerance,  victims  of 
a  blind  and  bigoted  hatred  against  the  Masonry  they 
sought  to  exemplify  in  actual  life  as  government  offi- 
cials. 


The  following  and  succeeding  papers  by  Brother  McLeish 
will  be  regarded  as  timely  and  good,  revealing  something  of 
conditions  in  that  trouble-torn  country.  A  knowledge  of  the 
past  is  necessary  to  understand  the  present.  Our  contributor 
gained  his  information  at  first  hand,  having  lived  in  Mexico 
and  there  being  interested  in  the  history  of  the  land,  and  es- 
pecially during  the  period  of  revolution  and  the  throwing  off  of 
Spanish  authority. — Editor  Freemason. 


CHAPTER  II 

DON  MIGUEL  DE  HIDALGO 

There  are  some  chapters  of  Mexican  history  as 
yet  unwritten.  Among  these  is  the  patriotic  part 
played  by  Mexican  Masons  during  different  crucial 
epochs  in  the  struggle  of  a  people  against  great  odds 
for  more  light  and  emergence  from  the  mediaevalism 
of  many  centuries. 

The  story  of  the  Mexican  people  is  a  strangely 
pathetic  one,  and  presents  the  vacillating,  fickle  his- 
tory of  all  Latin  races.  It  is  read  for  three  hundred 
years  in  the  life  stories  of  the  sixty-two  Spanish  Vice- 
roys. And  then  at  the  time  when  the  power  of  Spain 
was  tottering  to  its  downfall,  after  the  breaking  of 
the  Catholic  coalition  dealt  a  vital  blow  to  the  Spanish 
monarchy's  old  world  resources,  the  Spanish  Bourbons 
sought  to  recuperate  their  depleted  treasury  by  taking 
a  strangle-hold  upon  the  as  yet  undeveloped  riches  of 
New  Spain — Mexico. 

Viceroy  rule  was  a  sore  trial  for  the  people  of 
Mexico.  The  masses  were  practically  slaves,  due  to 
their  ignorance,  a  reign  of  terror  maintained  by  Span- 
ish mercenaries,  the  despotism  of  the  Viceroys  ever 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  49 

increasing,  above  all  due  to  the  dominance  of  the  In- 
quisition which  had  behind  it  such  supports  as  a  vast 
military  force,  and  the  almost  superstitious  reverence 
accorded  the  clergy  by  the  masses. 

Such  schools  as  there  were  depended  solely  upon 
the  Jesuits,  the  Black  Brotherhood,  whose  axiom  "the 
end  justifies  the  means,"  was  not  calculated  to  en- 
gender the  spread  of  inspiring  maxims  and  useful 
truths,  among  a  people  they  designed  to  use,  for  the 
glory  and  enrichment  of  Holy  Church,  and  its  sub- 
servient tools  the  ruling  Spaniards. 

Three-fifths  of  the  native  Mexicans  were  landless, 
occupationless. 

The  vast  tracts  of  land  and  haciendas  of  fabulous 
richness  were  in  the  absolute  possession  of  two  nu- 
merically small  classes,  the  Spanish  aristocrats  and 
the  clergy.  The  richest  of  the  lands  of  Mexico  were 
owned  by  the  blackrobed  members  of  Third  Sex,  the 
Clergy.  Over  the  humblest  peon  family  they  wielded 
supreme  sway  through  their  fat  itinerant  friars. 

Of  course  there  was  no  middle  class.  During  the 
three  hundred  years  of  Viceroy  rule,  the  blanketed 
hoi  polloi  had  degenerated  into  the  pitiable  state  of 
merely  existing.  They  were  even  grateful  to  their 
feudal  masters  for  a  place  to  eat  and  sleep.  Then  as 
now,  they  were  quite  content  to  face  the  exigencies 
of  a  day,  nor  worry  ever  at  all  as  to  the  possible  re- 
quirements of  a  morrow  they  might  never  live  to  see. 
Upon  the  superstitions  of  a  simple  people  like  this, 
the  priests  could  readily  plan. 

An  acquisition  of  tremendous  fortunes  in  the 
hands  of  a  very  few  accentuated  the  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  master  and  man.    And  so,  each  year,  the 


50  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

lot  of  the  blanketed  hoi  polloi  became  more  difficult  to 
bear. 

It  was  in  the  year  of  Grace  1810  that  Mexico 
showed  signs  of  an  awakening.  A  close  observer  could 
have  appreciated  the  fact  that  the  people  had  been 
reading,  thinking  and  talking  among  themselves,  that 
they  were  cherishing  new  and  indefinable  ambitions. 
For  the  first  time  native  Mexicans  dared  to  openly 
criticize  the  government,  the  Viceroy  and  the  Church. 

In  the  public  prints,  native  writers  expressed 
their  dangerous  doctrines.  The  subjects  of  which 
they  wrote  had  hitherto  been  taboo.  They  proved  of 
much  greater  interest  to  the  masses,  than  the  effete 
mental  pabulum  until  now  furnished  them  by  their 
priests. 

The  Spanish  Viceroy  at  this  period  was  Don  Fran- 
cisco de  Venegas,  a  stern,  an  intolerant  martinet.  He 
had  come  to  the  capital  in  September  of  1810,  just  a 
few  days  prior  to  the  revolt  inaugurated  by  Don 
Miguel  Hidalgo,  a  priest  and  a  Freemason.  Only  re- 
cently Hidalgo  had  been  attracted  to  the  Universal 
Brotherhood.  As  a  Master  Mason  he  quickly  imbibed 
the  gentle  philosophy  of  our  order,  and  with  it 
dreamed  a  dream  of  national  independence. 

The  Mexico  of  that  day  was  in  upheaval.  Every- 
one appreciated  the  vital  need  of  a  change.  No  one 
seemed  to  know  just  what  would  be  best  for  the  pub- 
lic weal.  A  lack  of  general  confidence  had  paralyzed 
the  business  of  the  country.  Speculative  ventures 
were  held  in  abeyance.  Mexicans  attributed  financial 
depression  to  the  annual  exportation  of  large  sums  of 
money  to  Spain  without  adequate  returns.  Spaniards 
and  Clergy  were  equally  fixed  in  a  belief  that  the  panic 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  51 

was  solely  due  to  the  liberal  doctrines  disseminated  by 
the  literati  and  especially  the  Freemasons.  They 
failed  to  see  that  they  themselves  had  forced  the  con- 
dition. Accordingly  Venegas  sought  to  muzzle  press 
and  pamphleteers.    In  this  of  course  he  failed. 

The  lodges  had  not  been  idle.  Their  membership 
was  made  up  of  native  professional  men  and  the  bet- 
ter element  of  the  common  people.  From  the  inchoa- 
tion  of  their  activities  they  had  worked  under  insur- 
mountable handicaps.  Nowhere  was  to  be  found  an 
audience  bold  enough  to  openly  hearken  to  their  pro- 
paganda of  independence. 

No  household  of  consequence  was  free  from  Span- 
ish spies.  No  man  in  the  capital  was  brave  enough  to 
assume  the  leadership  of  the  proximate  revolt.  It 
therefore  became  necessary  to  seek  a  competent  gen- 
eral in  a  district  less  infested  with  secret  agents  of 
the  government. 

Don  Miguel  Hidalgo  in  his  distant  parish  of  Do- 
lores heard  the  low  mutterings  of  the  awakened  peo- 
ple. He  realized  that  the  Mexican  masses  were  at  last 
prepared  to  raise  the  standard  of  revolution.  The 
hour  had  come  and  found  him  ready,  duly  and  truly 
prepared,  worthy  and  well  qualified. 

For  many  months  he  had  been  making  advances 
to  various  men  of  influence.  He  was  on  especially 
friendly  terms  with  the  military  authorities  of  his 
own  district.    Many  of  them  were  brother  Masons. 

Quite  too  late  Viceroy  Venegas,  informed  of 
Hidalgo's  plotting,  issued  orders  to  the  mayor  of 
Queretaro,  Senor  Dominguez,  to  arrest  Hidalgo,  Al- 
lende,  Abasolo,  Jimenez,  and  other  leaders  of  the  new 
movement.    Before  ever  this  man  could  carry  out  his 


52  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

instructions,  Hidalgo  and  his  supporters  sounded  their 
cry.    It  happened  on  September  15th,  1810. 

The  response  was  immediate.  Upon  reading  the 
pronunciamiento  of  Don  Miguel  Hidalgo,  Mexicans 
from  every  district  dared  to  declare  themselves  open- 
ly. The  blanketed  hoi  polloi  had  aroused  themselves 
to  action  after  a  long,  long  slumber.  Everywhere  the 
revolutionary  chieftain  was  made  welcome. 

Hidalgo's  first  move  was  against  the  city  of 
Guanajuato.  The  revolutionists  had  for  weapons 
pikes,  machetes,  palings,  and  primitive  mining  imple- 
ments. The  Spanish  garrison  fortified  themselves  in 
private  houses  and  the  public  granary.  This  latter 
was  an  edifice  well  adapted  to  have  withstood  a  long 
siege  had  its  defenders  but  taken  the  necessary  pre- 
cautions. Hidalgo's  undisciplined  mob  of  natives  as- 
sailed the  granary  with  dogged  determination.  The 
butchery  on  both  sides  was  appalling.  "Death  to  all 
Spaniards,"  was  the  battle  cry  of  the  patriots  as  they 
forced  their  opponents  back  to  the  very  outskirts  of 
the  city.  Guanajuato  was  a  veritable  shambles.  Fol- 
lowing its  fall,  Hidalgo  invested  Acambaro,  Celaya  and 
Valladolid.  His  rapid  headway  fairly  stupefied  the 
authorities  in  the  Mexican  capital. 

The  Church  was  the  first  to  hurl  itself  into  the 
breach  and  the  Inquisition  launched  its  anathemas 
against  Hidalgo  and  those  who  in  any  way  assisted 
him.  The  Holy  Office  denounced  the  movement  for 
independence  as  rankest  heresy.  Next  Viceroy  Vene- 
gas  showed  his  hand.  Equipping  a  formidable  body 
of  troops,  he  sent  them  forth  to  battle  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Trujillo,  a  pampered  drawing-room 
knight;  one  after  his  own  heart,  vain,  loud-mouthed, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  53 

overbearing,  cruel  and  self-assertive.  Indeed,  this 
Trujillo  was  an  aristocrat  of  the  aristocrats.  His  de- 
parture from  the  capitol  was  made  the  occasion  for 
great  pomp  and  display. 

Viceroy  Venegas,  debonair,  fat  and  well-groomed, 
galloped  into  the  plaza  at  the  side  of  Trujillo,  to  re- 
view the  veteran  regulars  of  Spain.  Many  of  these 
latter  had  been  seasoned  in  battling  against  the  legions 
of  Napoleon.  And  a  splendid  showing  they  made  in 
their  brilliant  panoply  of  blue  and  gold  and  azure, 
their  Toledo  blades  shining  brightly  in  the  rays  of  the 
tropic  sun. 

An  advance  guard  of  2000  men  under  General 
Calleja  had  already  preceded  them  along  the  Quere- 
tare  highway.  Adding  these,  the  Spaniards  who  were 
to  oppose  Hidalgo's  heterogenous  crowd  numbered 
more  than  ten  thousand  of  the  flower  of  the  Spanish 
chivalry.  Opposed  to  them  the  revolutionists  had  an 
ever-growing  army  daily  recruited  by  bands  of  fierce 
guerilla  fighters  pouring  out  of  the  mountains  into  the 
fertile  valley  until  they  soon  ran  up  to  a  hundred  thou- 
sand. Hidalgo  and  Colonel  Allende  led  these  by  forced 
marches  with  intent  to  take  the  capitol  even  as  they 
had  taken  fair  Guanajuato. 

More  quickly  marched  the  Spaniards  along  the 
Toluca  road  which  led  southeast  from  Mexico  City.  In 
consequence  they  arrived  at  their  destination  in  ample 
season  to  take  possession  of  the  defiles  and  advantage- 
ous coignes  ad  jutting  upon  the  highway.  Trujillo, 
over-confident,  led  them  on  into  a  level  plain,  exposed 
on  all  sides  to  the  fire  of  an  enemy.  He  had  merely 
repeated  a  mistake  common  and  fatal  to  generals  of 
the  classes.    He  despised  the  rabble,  made  light  of  the 


54  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

masses.  Now  there  began  a  battle  worth  while.  The 
insurrectos,  wild-eyed  and  naked,  mobsmen  who  had 
never  before  faced  artillery  fire,  rushed  upon  the  great 
guns  of  the  Spanish,  waving  their  sombreros,  and 
shouting  their  battle  cry  with  that  same  sort  of  fanat- 
icism with  which  their  ancestors  in  the  long  ago  had 
hurled  themselves  upon  the  mailclad  men  of  Hernan 
Cortez.  Even  such  hardened  veterans  as  the  legion- 
aries of  old  Spain  could  not  long  withstand  an  on- 
slaught in  vastly  superior  numbers,  from  an  enemy 
actuated  by  the  fires  of  a  rage  which  had  lain  dormant 
for  many  centuries. 

After  a  scene  of  indescribable  carnage,  the  pa- 
triots won  the  day.  This  battle  of  Monte  las  Cruces 
took  place  October  30,  1810.  With  the  remnant  of  a 
brigade,  Trujillo  fled  to  the  capitol. 

One  would  expect  the  insurrecto  chiefs  buoyed  up 
by  their  magnificent  victory,  to  have  advanced  forth- 
with upon  Mexico  City  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  a  hard- 
won  victory  over  the  trained  veterans  of  the  Asturias. 
Within  easy  marching  distance  of  the  hated  Viceroy's 
stronghold,  and  their  foes  in  full  flight,  in  the  capitol 
too,  their  friends  and  the  Masonic  Lodges  were  antici- 
pating with  feverish  eagerness  the  oncoming  of  that 
army  whose  success  meant  "more  light"  for  Mexico. 
Most  unfortunately,  Hidalgo's  entire  campaign  had 
been  formulated  without  military  training  or  system. 
The  call  had  come  to  find  the  Mexican  masses  not  yet 
materially  prepared.  In  the  confusion  following  upon 
his  victory,  poor  Hidalgo  was  quite  at  a  loss  to  know 
just  what  to  do.  The  very  magnitude  of  his  recent 
successes  overwhelmed  him.  He  was  a  tremble  with 
the  joy  of  a  great  fear.     His  chief  of  staff,  Colonel 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  55 

Allende,  possessed  more  resolution  in  the  crisis.  He 
strongly  advocated  an  immediate  following  up  of  their 
great  victory.  To  his  pleas  no  attention  were  accorded. 
Hidalgo's  gentle  spirit  revolted  as  he  gazed  out  over 
the  battlefield  to  behold  the  battered  bodies  of  his  pa- 
triots locked  in  the  stiffened  embrace  of  the  bronzed 
veterans  of  Spain. 

You  see,  Hidalgo  had  not  been  reared  in  the  school 
of  war.  The  calm  quiescence  of  his  little  home  in  Do- 
lores, was  not  an  atmosphere  at  all  calculated  to  de- 
velop in  so  sensitive  a  soul  complete  indifference  to 
loss  of  human  life  nor,  was  the  symbolic  philosophy 
imbibed  in  Valle  de  Mexico  Lodge  Number  One  of  a 
character  to  approve  of  this  carnival  of  blood.  The 
grim  silence  prevailing  over  the  bivouac  of  the  dead, 
brought  tears  to  Hidalgo's  eyes.  Again  and  again  he 
asked  himself,  if  after  all,  Liberty  was  worth  the  price 
demanded?  At  his  feet  he  could  see  outstretched  the 
friends  and  companions  of  his  happier  days  in  Dolores. 
Before  him  lay  the  village  notary,  the  old  sexton,  the 
jovial  innkeeper,  the  gruff  Jefe  Politico — alas,  all  mar- 
tyrs to  the  quest  for  more  light  in  Mexico.  What 
gloomy  tidings  must  he  now  send  back  to  their  pa- 
tiently biding  mothers,  widows  and  orphans.  And  so, 
pity  cost  Hidalgo  the  fruits  of  all  his  victories.  The 
First  Chief  lost  some  very  vital  moments  while  his 
soldiers  were  digging  trenches  for  the  dead.  A  golden 
opportunity  had  come.    As  quickly  it  was  gone. 

From  the  capitol  came  couriers.  They  reported 
that  Viceroy  Venegas  had  assembled  another  army  to 
crush  out  the  insurrection.  A  council  was  hastily  held. 
Another  grave  mistake  was  made.  It  was  voted  to 
advance   east   to    Aculco.     This  meant  a  wearisome 


56  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

march  over  a  barren,  alkali  plain.  Aculco  was  twenty 
leagues  distant.  Mexico  City  was  but  eight  leagues 
away. 

On  the  long  retreat,  for  it  was  nothing  else,  the 
revolutionists  afforded  Venegas  an  opportunity  to 
bring  his  splendidly  trained  cavalry  into  action.  Re- 
peated and  vengeful  assaults  were  made  by  the  Span- 
ish. In  this  crisis,  even  Allende's  martial  training 
availed  but  little,  since  of  the  many  thousands  of  sav- 
ages included  in  Hidalgo's  army  but  few  had  a  knowl- 
edge of  Spanish.  Hidalgo,  Allende,  and  their  lieuten- 
ants knew  nothing  of  the  several  dialects.  An  army 
like  theirs  was  but  ill  prepared  to  enter  upon  another 
engagement  like  that  of  Aculco.  They  lacked  muni- 
tions of  war,  provisions,  and  clothing.  They  were  ut- 
terly exhausted  from  the  forced  march  through  the 
desert.  Discord  everywhere  prevailed.  None  the  less, 
orders  were  misunderstood,  or  openly  and  indifferent- 
ly disobeyed.  The  inevitable  happened.  This  time, 
the  patriots  proved  an  easy  prey  to  the  trained  vet- 
erans of  the  Spanish  commander,  General  Callejo. 
Everywhere  the  insurrectos  were  mowed  down  by  ar- 
tillery, or  cut  to  pieces  by  the  cavalry.  Annihilation 
was  almost  complete.  A  few  surviving  bands  sought 
refuge  in  flight,  leaving  their  leaders  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  enemy  with  the  exception  of  Don  Miguel 
Hidalgo,  Colonel  Allende  and  a  small  remnant  of  the 
general  staff. 

It  seemed  as  though  the  whole  cause  of  Mexican 
Independence  had  been  dealt  a  mortal  hurt.  When 
the  news  of  the  atrocities  perpetrated  at  Aculco  by 
the  Spaniards  reached  the  native  Mexicans  in  the  cap- 
itol,   they   hid   their   faces  in  shame  and  grief.    The 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  57 

Spaniards  celebrated  the  supposed  end  of  the  revolu- 
tion with  a  solemn  Te  Deum  in  the  cathedral.  Vice- 
roy Venegas  inaugurated  a  veritable  reign  of  terror 
in  the  capitol.  It  was  forbidden  natives  and  Creoles 
even  to  mention  the  name  of  Miguel  Hidalgo.  Any 
refusal  to  participate  in  the  fiestas  of  the  Spanish  re- 
sulted in  instant  death  as  a  suspect.  The  capacity  of 
the  city  prisons  was  tested  to  their  utmost.  Every- 
where gallows  were  groaning  under  countless  bodies 
of  political  offenders. 

The  families  who  were  made  victims  of  these 
punitive  measures  of  the  Spaniards,  might  awhile  dis- 
semble their  righteous  resentment.  But  they  could 
never  -forget.  And  by  these  very  means  whereby 
Venegas  was  hoping  forever  to  crush  the  Spirit  of 
Liberty,  Equality  and  Fraternity,  of  Brotherly  Love, 
Relief  and  Truth,  was  brought  into  being  the  nucleus 
of  an  active  revolutionary  junta.  The  Viceroy  pro- 
hibited the  printing  of  newspapers,  and  abolished  the 
circulation  of  pamphlets.  In  everything  he  was  a  Dic- 
tator. 

Hidalgo  and  his  brother  Masons  fled  into  the  east. 
Nor  did  they  find  asylum  at  every  stopping  place. 
Many  there  were  who  believed  that  the  men  who 
through  poor  judgment  had  sacrificed  a  glorious  op- 
portunity to  attain  Mexican  Independence,  must  merit 
the  consequence  of  defeat,  however  dire.  Beyond 
Guadalajara  the  fugitives  found  a  more  kindly  recep- 
tion. Ever  hot  upon  their  trail  traveled  Calleja  and 
the  Spaniards.  On  his  way,  the  Spanish  commander 
added  to  his  forces  all  such  natives  as  might  be  in 
any-wise  depended  upon.  These  were  followers  and 
dependents  of  the  rich  Spanish  landholders,  who  from 


58  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

sheer  ignorance  and  discouragement,  had  become  quite 
indifferent  as  to  who  should  control  the  destinies  of 
Mexico. 

A  crafty  method  resorted  to  by  Calleja  to  draw 
to  his  standard  native  support,  was  an  attempt  to  en- 
gender universal  horror  of  the  insurrecto  leaders  as 
excommunicates  and  traitors  to  God,  to  the  Church 
and  to  the  King.  Priests  well  suited  for  the  purpose 
were  scattered  through  the  army,  exhorting  the  su- 
perstitious natives  to  exterminate  the  outlaws  if  they 
hoped  to  be  saved. 

The  final  stand  of  Hidalgo  and  his  companions 
was  made  at  the  bridge  of  the  Calderon  on  the  night 
of  January  16th,  1811.  Halting  at  the  river  banks, 
they  erected  their  defenses  against  the  on-coming 
Spaniards.  It  was  almost  grey  dawn  when  the  enemy 
appeared,  crossed  the  river  and  fell  upon  the  Mexican 
troops.  Long,  sanguine  and  fiercely  fought  was  the 
ensuing  engagement.  Into  the  thick  of  the  fray 
rushed  Hidalgo,  now  here,  now  there,  his  long,  grey 
hair  waving  in  the  wind,  his  face  lighted  by  the  noble 
fire  of  firm  determination,  to  do  or  to  die.  Alas,  it 
was  not  fated  that  victory  crown  his  standard.  After 
losing  eighteen  hundred  men,  Hidalgo  realized  that 
the  battle  had  gone  against  him. 

In  front  of  the  Mint,  at  Chihuahua  City,  there 
once  stood  an  adobe  monument.  It  may  be  there  yet, 
unless  recent  revolutionists  have  destroyed  or  oblit- 
erated it.  It  marks  the  spot  where  fell  the  first  four 
martyrs  to  the  cause  of  Mexican  Liberty — Hidalgo, 
Allende,  Aldama  and  Jimenez. 


CHAPTER  III 

DON  AUGUSTIN  DE  ITURBIDE 

After  the  death  of  Hidalgo,  the  list  of  heroes  who 
kept  up  the  fight  against  Spanish  rule  is  a  long  one. 
Don  Ignacio  Rayon,  Don  Jose  Morelos,  the  illustrious 
Guerrero,  a  York  Rite  Mason;  Padre  Matamoras, 
Nicolas  Bravo  and  many  others  from  every  district  of 
Mexico  are  on  the  roll  of  honor. 

There  was  one  officer  in  the  Royalist  army,  of 
Mexican  birth  and  patriotic  inclination,  who  by  un- 
usual ability  had  long  held  in  check  the  leaders  who 
took  up  the  fight  where  Hidalgo  left  it.  His  name 
was  Don  Augustin  de  Iturbide.  The  man  destined  of 
the  gods  to  bring  liberty  to  Mexico  was,  strange  to 
say,  a  product  of  the  aristocracy.  By  early  associa- 
tions and  training  he  had  but  little  in  common  with 
the  masses.  His  brief  career  upon  the  stage  of  his 
country's  history  was  replete  with  excitement  and  ac- 
tion. It  was  almost  as  dramatically  romantic  as  that 
of  the  man  he  idealized  and  emulated — Napoleon  Bon- 
aparte. His  ending  was  quite  as  pathetic.  Like  Na- 
poleon, too,  Iturbide  was  a  Mason.  This  leader  com- 
manded a  battalion  of  provincial  troops  in  the  service 
of  the  Viceroy  Venegas.  He  was  a  native  of  Valla- 
dolid.  In  his  early  training  and  education,  he  had  en- 
joyed exceptional  advantages.  During  the  early  days 
of  the  first  Mexican  Revolution,  Iturbide  and  his  com- 
mand had  participated  in  many  engagements.  These 
battles  had  cost  the  patriots  dear,  for  Iturbide  was  a 
born  soldier  and  most  intrepid  fighter. 


60  High  Lights  of  th§  Mexican  Revolution 

Iturbide  was  a  man  of  ordinary  appearance  and 
average  physique.  He  possessed  a  tireless  activity  and 
an  endurance  bred  of  long  and  hard  campaigning.  He 
was  ambitious,  self-assertive,  intolerant  of  authority, 
as  are  most  born  leaders  of  men.  He  depreciated  dan- 
ger, laughed  at  all  obstacles,  however  formidable.  He 
seemed  not  to  know  the  meaning  of  fear.  Each  bat- 
tle in  which  he  participated  found  him  in  the  most  ex- 
posed position. 

At  the  time  when  he  heard  the  call  of  his  people, 
and  answered  the  signs  and  summons  of  the  Craft  by 
espousing  the  cause  of  those  who  fought  for  the  prin- 
ciples of  brotherly  love,  relief  and  truth,  Iturbide  did 
not  under-estimate  the  prowess  of  the  Spaniards.  He 
knew  from  contact  the  personal  capacity  of  each  Roy- 
alist commander,  but  above  all  he  appreciated  his  own 
superior  qualifications  as  a  practical  soldier. 

For  years  Iturbide  had  been  thoughtfully  observ- 
ing the  progress  made  by  the  patriots.  Soon  he  was 
brought  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that,  slowly  but 
surely,  Spain  was  losing  her  iron  grip  upon  Mexico. 
He  was  a  far-seeing  man.  He  had  always  yearned  for 
honors,  for  military  distinction  and  for  glory.  The 
mother  country,  torn  by  internecine  strife,  trembling 
on  the  very  verge  of  a  precipice,  could  not,  thought 
Iturbide,  long  maintain  her  foothold  in  the  New  World. 
Nearly  all  of  Spain's  American  provinces  had  won  their 
freedom.  Bogota  and  Caracas  had  thrown  off  the  yoke 
of  suzerainty.  Driven  to  desperation  by  such  losses, 
the  Spaniards  now  clung  desperately  to  Mexico.  Large 
reinforcements  were  being  constantly  dispatched 
across  the  sea  to  uphold  their  imperiled  authority. 
Viceroy  Venegas  had  been  replaced  by  an  even  sterner 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  61 

martinet,  Don  Juan  Apodaca.  With  barely  enough 
military  leaders  to  successfully  direct  the  moments  of 
their  armies  in  the  peninsula,  the  Spaniards  neverthe- 
less set  aside  enormous  amounts  to  pay  for  the  trans- 
portation of  fresh  troops  to  Mexico,  and  sent  with 
these  some  of  their  ablest  generals. 

Iturbide  could  now  see  plainly  the  handwriting 
upon  the  wall.  He  realized  that  the  wide  scope  of  his 
ambitions  could  never  be  fulfilled  were  he  content  to 
remain  an  officer  in  the  Royalist  army.  For  years  he 
had  been  quietly  formulating  a  plan  to  be  used  against 
the  Spanish,  when  the  time  should  come  for  him  to 
openly  declare  himself.  Astute,  clever,  far-seeing,  he 
had  attached  to  himself,  by  ultra-clever  intrigue,  Mex- 
icans of  every  party — ecclesiastical,  military  and  po- 
litical. Now  looking  back  through  the  years  upon  his 
colossal  undertaking,  against  what  had  seemed  at  its 
inchoation  insurmountable  odds,  Iturbide  could  have 
the  satisfaction  of  having  performed  a  sacred  duty  to 
the  Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe,  to  his  country, 
to  his  neighbors  and  himself. 

Knowing  the  yearning  of  his  compatriots  for  in- 
dependence above  everything  else,  he  made  that  a  fun- 
damental feature  of  his  plan,  which  he  denominated 
"Las  Tres  Garantias":  To  exemplify  his  objects  he 
used  the  word  "Union ;"  to  conciliate  the  native  clergy 
he  added  "Religion;"  to  inspire  the  sympathy  of  the 
blanketed  hoi  polloi,  he  added  the  inspiring  slogan 
"Liberty."  With  the  magic  symbolism  of  these  three 
words,  Iturbide  confidently  hoped  to  rally  those  power- 
ful enough  to  drive  the  Spaniards  to  the  shores  of  the 
sea,  thus  forever  ending  Viceroy  rule  in  old  Mexico. 

Veiling  his  plans  with  the  greatest  secrecy,  Itur- 


62  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

bide  obtained  from  the  Viceroy  the  command  of  a 
division  to  set  forth  in  pursuit  of  the  insurgent  leader 
General  Guerrero,  with  whose  downfall  a  vital  blow 
would  be  struck  at  the  patriot's  cause.  Yet  far  from 
his  plans  was  the  overthrow  of  that  gallant  and  able 
representative  of  York  Rite  Masonry,  whose  whole  life 
had  been  modeled  upon  the  Symbolic  Code  of  the 
Square  and  Compass.  Quite  to  the  contrary,  Iturbide 
knew  that  he  must  have  Guerrero's  support  at  any 
cost,  inasmuch  as  this  insurrecto  general  represented 
a  very  powerful  faction  in  the  national  life.  Couriers 
were  dispatched  ahead  to  arrange  a  meeting  of  the 
two.  Towards  the  latter  part  of  January,  1821,  Itur- 
bide and  Guerrero  met  in  a  mountain  canon.  The 
scene  was  one  of  striking  contrasts.  Upon  one  side 
General  Iturbide,  in  a  brilliant  uniform  of  azure  and 
gold,  at  the  head  of  his  smartly  equipped  Spanish  bat- 
talions. Opposite  was  the  little  bronzed  band  of  pa- 
triots, martialed  by  lion-hearted  Vicente  Guerrero, 
their  torn,  weather-stained,  homespun  uniforms  af- 
fording striking  evidence  of  many  a  hard  fought  fray. 

The  interview  was  brief  but  was  to  the  point. 
After  the  two  generals  had  embraced,  Iturbide  said, 
"I  cannot  express  the  satisfaction  which  I  experience 
upon  meeting  with  a  patriot  who  has  sustained  the 
noble  cause  of  independence,  and  has  survived  unaided 
such  hardships,  maintaining  alive  the  sacred  fire  of 
liberty.  Receive  this  merited  tribute  to  your  valor 
and  your  virtues,"  to  which  Guerrero,  greatly  moved, 
responded:  "I,  senor,  am  happy  that  my  country  has 
this  day  received  a  son  whose  valor  and  sentiment 
have  been  so  marked." 

With   extreme   frankness   Iturbide   disclosed  his 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  63 


plans  to  the  commander  of  the  York  Rite  .  And  Guer- 
rero, completely  convinced  of  their  merit,  attracted 
irresistibly  by  the  magnetic  personality  of  the  young- 
er soldier,  carefully  aligned  his  troopers  and  cried: 
"Soldiers,  this  Mexican  whom  you  see  present  is  Don 
Augustin  de  Iturbide,  who  for  nine  years  has  been  an 
opponent  of  the  cause  which  we  defend.  Today  he 
has  sworn  to  defend  the  national  interests,  and  I,  who 
have  been  your  leader  in  battle,  and  whom  you  cannot 
doubt  as  willing  to  die  in  sustaining  Liberty,  I  am  the 
first  to  recognize  Don  Iturbide  as  the  Chief  of  the  na- 
tional armies.  Viva  la  independencia, — Viva  la 
Libertad." 

So  soon  as  Guerrero's  alliance  with  Iturbide  be- 
came known,  the  revolutionary  chieftains  flocked  to 
the  new  leader  from  all  quarters.  Soon  Iturbide,  at 
the  head  of  a  powerful  army,  in  quick  succession  in- 
vested Valladolid,  Queretaro,  and  Puebla.  Viceroy 
Apodaca  proclaimed  martial  law.  He  forcibly  con- 
scripted all  male  citizens  capable  of  bearing  arms. 
Even  with  such  strenuous  measures,  he  found  himself 
beset  by  insurmountable  odds  and  was  forced  to  ab- 
dicate. 

The  authorities  at  Madrid  had  anticipated  just 
such  a  happening.  Already  there  was  landing  at  Vera 
Cruz,  the  sixty-fourth  and  last  Spanish  Viceroy,  Gen- 
eral O'Donoju.  On  his  march  to  the  Mexican  capital 
O'Donoju  was  permitted  to  advance  as  far  as  Cordoba. 
Here  he  was  met  by  General  Iturbide  with  an  over- 
whelming force  of  patriots.  Realizing  the  utter  futil- 
ity of  resistance,  General  O'Donoju  signed  the  Treaty 
of  Cordoba,  recognizing  the  independence  of  the  Mex- 
ican people,  allowing  them  to  form  a  provisional  junta, 


64  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

and  to  make  choice  of  a  ruling  sovereign,  this  latter 
to  be  selected  from  the  royal  family  of  Spain. 

Crafty,  far-seeing  Iturbide!  From  the  first  he 
had  known  instinctively  that  the  Spanish  Cortes  would 
never  countenance  any  such  arrangement,  wherefore 
he  permitted  himself  to  be  named  president  of  the 
Mexican  junta.  He  hoped,  and  not  without  reason, 
that  when  the  time  arrived,  his  people  would  elevate 
him  to  the  place  he  coveted. 

On  the  morning  of  September  27,  1821,  a  great 
crush  of  people  flocked  to  the  southern  outposts  of  the 
Mexican  capital.  There  were  poverty-stricken  leperos, 
and  dirty,  squalid  Indians,  who  pressed  ever  so  closely 
about  the  closed  caleches,  through  the  tiny  openings 
of  which  timidly  peeped  black-robed  senoras  and  petite 
senoritas.  Occasionally  an  aguador  with  his  great  clay 
pitcher  strapped  upon  his  back,  and  filled  with  fresh 
water,  elbowed  his  way  through  the  crowd,  as  he  cried 
his  most  monotonous  refrain,  "Agua — agua  fresco." 
And  some  gaily  decked  cavalier  in  silver-bullioned 
black  jacket,  with  gold-braided  zapateros  and  peaked 
sombrero,  wearing  the  colors  of  his  lady  love  upon  his 
arm,  a  gaudy  serape  jauntily  wrapped  about  his  gold- 
embossed  saddle,  dug  the  rowels  of  his  spurs  into  the 
foam-flecked  side  of  his  steed,  recklessly  riding  down 
a  group  of  affrighted  children,  or  helpless  leperos,  to 
the  great  delight  of  the  petite  senoritas  in  the 
caleches.  The  chimes  of  the  Cathedral  rang  out  mer- 
rily, as  well  they  might  on  this  day  of  days.  The  Lib- 
erator general,  who  had  done  for  his  country  what 
many  patriots  had  failed  to  do  in  ten  years  incessant 
warfare,  was  about  to  enter  the  capital.  Therefore, 
Mexico  City  rejoiced.     Loud  sounded  the  petards  of 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  65 

the  soldiery.  Occasionally  a  troop  of  cavalry  dashed 
into  the  crowd,  blending  oaths  and  shouts  and  adding 
to  the  general  confusion  all  about. 

At  the  Portales  which  flanked  the  Vera  Cruz  road 
a  regiment  of  Jalapa  infantry  were  drawn  up.  The 
monotony  of  their  long  wait  was  enlivened  by  the  mar- 
tial music  of  a  regimental  band,  interrupted  at  times 
by  a  distant  roll  of  drums,  or  the  prolonged  blowing 
of  bugles  from  an  approaching  troop  of  cavalry. 
Everywhere  excitement  exercised  supreme  sway.  Be- 
neath a  huge  triumphal  arch  at  the  Plaza  Mayor,  were 
assembled  the  authorities  of  the  city  in  gorgeous  uni- 
forms. With  them  were  the  prefects  and  clergy. 
Close  at  hand  waited  a  band  of  white-robed  little  ones, 
bearing  huge  floral  pieces  adorned  with  the  tricolor 
adopted  by  General  Iturbide.  Only  where  a  few  Span- 
iards had  been  bold  enough  to  foregather,  might  be 
seen  the  cockade  of  the  Spanish  Bourbons. 

Presently  the  great  guns  at  the  southern  entrance 
to  the  city  told  the  populace  that  the  national  army 
was  about  to  enter  the  capitol.  Soon  they  came  march- 
ing by.  First,  a  regiment  of  chausseurs  in  green  and 
gold,  followed  by  troops  of  dragoons  and  hussars.  Next 
a  procession  of  black-robed  native  priests,  with  ban- 
ners and  chasubles,  chanting  a  Te  Deum.  After  them 
the  dusky,  bronzed  veterans  of  General  Guerrero  and 
the  fighting  Indians  of  Guadalupe  Victoria.  Last  of 
all  came  the  "Scarlet  Riders,"  the  regiment  of  General 
Iturbide,  with  long  black  plumes  waving  in  their  hel- 
mets, facings  of  gold  showing  jauntily  upon  their  red 
uniforms,  their  fierce  moustaches  bristling  and  their 
scarred  faces  aglow  with  pride.  At  a  double  quick 
these  troops  marched  through  the  streets  of  Mexico 


66  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

City.  They  were  warmly  welcomed  on  all  sides.  After 
them  came  a  gorgeous  state  carriage  drawn  by  ten 
sturdy  mules  with  silver  trappings,  and  driven  by 
savage  looking  mozos  with  rough  jackets  of  skins, 
great  zapateros  and  peaked  sombreros.  As  outriders 
four  trumpeters  rode.  Within  this  coach  sat  the  last 
of  the  Spanish  Viceroys,  General  O'Donoju,  and  the 
Liberator  of  Mexico,  General  Augustin  de  Iturbide. 
On  each  side  of  the  coach  rode  the  swarthy,  gorgeous- 
ly uniformed  suite  of  His  Majesty's  Vicegerent,  led  by 
Brigadier  General  Linan,  General  Don  Jose  Davila, 
Captain  Fernando  del  Valle,  and  Teniente  Navarette. 

Such  a  scene  of  pomp  and  panoply  this  staid  old 
Mexican  capitol  had  never  before  witnessed  in  all  the 
three  hundred  years  of  its  existence.  The  blanketed 
hoi  polloi  were  wild  with  enthusiasm.  They  thought 
that  they  had  come  into  their  own  at  last.  Poor  fools ! 
Nor  did  these  peons  dream  that  they  were  but  ex- 
changing task-masters:  that  the  future  held  for  them 
a  period  of  stress  and  bloodshed  destined  to  extend 
over  many,  many  years:  that  the  man  they  now  ac- 
claimed their  Liberator  General,  was  soon  to  fall  a 
victim  to  that  fickleness  which  is  an  inherent  charac- 
teristic of  all  Latin- Americans :  that  grim  old  Guerrero 
too,  was  to  share  a  similar  fate:  least  of  all,  that  the 
young  General  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  who  now 
rode  proudly  with  the  staff,  was  eventually  to  compass 
the  downfall  of  all  these  patriots  when  they  stood  in 
the  way  of  his  own  preferment,  and  after  sweeping 
them  away  like  chaff,  would  hold  Mexico  in  his  own 
iron  grip  for  fifty  long,  weary  years.  And  so,  quite 
ignorant  of  the  future,  the  Mexican  masses  shouted 
and  entered  happily  into  the  spirit  of  this  day  of  days, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  67 

to  many  of  them  symbolic  of  brotherly  love,  relief  and 
truth. 

Nor  did  it  take  long  for  Iturbide  to  evolve  order 
out  of  chaos.  With  an  eye  to  his  own  future,  he  care- 
fully organized  the  new  elements  of  the  Mexican  gov- 
ernment, abolishing  the  restrictive  laws  of  the  Span- 
iard, and  to  all  intents  playing  into  the  hands  of  the 
Mexican  people.  Day  by  day  Iturbide's  personal  popu- 
larity increased.  There  came  at  last  news  to  the  cap- 
itol.  The  Spanish  Cortes  had  rejected  the  treaty  of 
Cordoba.  But  for  this  Iturbide  had  prepared.  The 
time  for  his  own  great  coup  had  come.  It  was  the 
culmination  of  his  many  years  of  watchful  waiting. 
The  Mexican  Congress  was  packed  with  his  personal 
adherents  and  members  of  the  Lodges. 

Before  ever  the  people  had  recovered  from  their 
shock  of  surprise  caused  by  Spain's  repudiation  of 
"Las  Tres  Garantias,"  the  personal  following  of  Don 
Augustin  de  Iturbide  proclaimed  him  Emperor  of  Mex- 
ico. A  vote  of  four  to  one  in  his  favor,  taken  by  Con- 
gress, confirmed  him  in  his  new  dignity.  And  the  man 
who  had  so  cleverly  manipulated  the  patriot  generals, 
who  had  united  all  the  diverse  patriot  factions,  now 
ascended  the  new  world  throne  as  Emperor  Augustine 
I.  His  coronation  was  another  occasion  for  magnificent 
display.  It  took  place  in  the  great  cathedral  of  Mex- 
ico City,  July  21,  1823. 

From  this  moment  Iturbide  cast  aside  his  mask. 
To  the  patriots  he  revealed  that  they  had  but  served 
as  stepping  stones  to  further  the  personal  ambitions 
of  a  Mexican  aristocrat  of  the  aristocrats.  Yet  he  was 
equally  honest  with  the  representatives  of  the  Clerical 
party.    When  to  the  Palacio  Iturbide  there  came  His 


68  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Eminence  the  Archbishop  of  Mexico,  attended  by  his 
black-robed  suffragans,  to  advance  the  claims  of  Holy 
Church  and  to  insist  that  the  Inquisition  be  not  at  all 
curtailed  in  its  activities,  he  brusquely  concluded  with 
the  statement:  "Refuse  my  demand  and  I  shall  with- 
draw from  your  cause  the  countenance  and  support  of 
the  Church  of  Rome." 

To  this  Iturbide  coolly  retorted :  "Your  Eminence, 
my  cause  was  reared  without  the  aid  of  the  clergy, 
and  it  will  live  without  the  aid  of  the  clergy.  In  Eng- 
land, Henry  VIII  divorced  church  and  state.  In  France 
the  republicans  hurled  defiance  at  the  Pope.  In  Mex- 
ico, I,  Augustin  de  Iturbide,  Emperor  by  the  Grace  of 
God  and  the  will  of  the  Mexican  people,  bid  you  go 
with  your  empty  forms  and  mummery,  fit  alone  for 
the  priest-ridden  Bourbons.  For  two  hundred  years 
the  Church  of,  Rome  has  preyed  upon  this  poor  coun- 
try, like  the  sopilote  of  the  desert,  exercising  the  vilest 
extortions,  practicing  the  most  fearful  inhumanities, 
working  upon  the  fears  of  the  simple  minded  by  the 
dread  terrors  of  the  Inquisition,  and  taking  over  the 
national  resources  to  fatten  your  monks  and  your 
nuns,  to  build  your  cathedrals,  and  rear  up  a  tinsel 
frame  work  of  ceremonials  and  to  pander  to  your  idle 
vanities,  while  the  ragged  lepero,  the  beggared  ranch- 
ero,  and  the  despairing  tradesman  bow  their  worn, 
emaciated  bodies  in  the  dust  to  receive,  in  return  for 
all  they  have  given  to  the  Church,  the  empty,  vacuous 
smile  and  meaningless  benediction  of  some  over-fed, 
lumbering  priest,  whose  very  shovel  hat  and  black 
robe  have  been  paid  for  from  the  full  measure  of  their 
sacrifice.     Out  upon  such  sophistry  as  yours  which 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  69 

excuses  all  things  on  the  ground  that  the  end  justifies 
the  means." 

"You  have  hurled  down  your  grito  of  defiance  and 
must  answer  to  the  Pope,"  cried  the  exasperated  Arch- 
bishop, his  form  shaken  with  wrath,  "The  cause  of  the 
Excumulgado  has  ever  been  a  lost  cause." 

"I  shall  answer  to  my  God  and  to  Him  alone," 
was  Iturbide's  unshaken  response,  "And  if  my  cause 
fail  because  I  have  been  the  first  of  the  Mexicans  to 
raise  my  voice  against  extortionate  priestcraft,  then 
be  it  so.  But  hearken,  your  Eminence,  that  day  will 
come  for  Mexico  when  some  man  shall  rise  strong 
enough  to  forever  divorce  Church  and  State.  Perhaps 
it  may  be  an  Iturbide,  perhaps  a  man  of  a  future  gen- 
eration, as  yet  unborn;  but  so  surely  as  tomorrow's 
sun  shall  rise  over  the  city,  so  surely  will  the  hour  and 
the  man  come.  Go  then,  Your  Eminence,  mete  out  the 
curses  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  let  the  Papal  Bulls  de- 
cry against  my  cause,  flee  across  the  water  to  the 
Court  of  the  Bourbons.  I  defy  you  all,  and  rest  my 
cause  before  Almighty  God." 

"So  be  it,"  said  the  Archbishop,  restraining  him- 
self with  difficulty,  "Until  you  retract  your  words, 
Augustin  de  Iturbide,  you  rest  under  the  ban  of  dis- 
approval of  the  Church  of  Rome."  And  motioning  his 
sombre  suite  to  follow,  he  left  the  presence  of  the  Em- 
peror. 

About  his  gorgeous  court  Iturbide  now  gathered 
the  wealthiest  and  oldest  of  the  native  families  in  the 
country.  He  was  lavish  in  his  expenditures.  He 
created  a  new  world  nobility.  He  distributed  titles 
promiscuously.  The  Order  of  Guadalupe  which  he 
created  was  modelled  upon  the  Order  of  the  Garter. 


70  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

■  ■mm ■   ■      -i  i     i      -rTwn n-i 1 ■    -     ■ ' 

He  also  fashioned  another  after  Napoleon's  Legion  of 
Honor.  In  his  self-absorption  and  burning  eagerness 
to  build  up  a  brilliant  aristocracy,  founded  upon  old 
world  traditions,  aiming  to  surround  himself  with  an 
atmosphere  of  formal  ceremonial  and  magnificence, 
the  Emperor  accorded  scant  attention  to  the  men 
whose  tireless  energies  and  personal  sacrifices  had 
brought  him  to  his  present  high  estate.  And  so  he 
sealed  his  doom.  Iturbide,  in  reverting  once  more  to 
his  type,  was  compelled  to  relegate  such  sincere  pa- 
triots as  Guerrero  and  Victoria  to  the  background. 
His  vanity  told  him  that  such  men,  pure  products  of 
the  common  people,  would  in  nowise  add  to  the  bril- 
liant court  functions  now  of  daily  occurrence  in  his 
capitol.  In  the  hour-glass,  that  emblem  of  human  life, 
swiftly  ran  the  sands  for  poor  Iturbide.  Before  the 
year  was  fairly  done,  Santa  Anna  proclaimed  a  Repub- 
lic at  Vera  Cruz.  And  in  the  north,  Generals  Guerrero, 
Bravo  and  Guadalupe  Victoria  sent  signs  and  sum- 
mons to  their  trained  veterans  to  take  the  field  once 
more.  This  time,  theirs  was  a  punitive  purpose,  for 
they  meant  to  overthrow  the  clay  idol  they  had  set 
upon  a  pedestal. 

In  vain  the  Emperor  dissolved  the  Congress  of  the 
Mexican  people.  In  vain  he  summoned  the  soldiers  of 
the  Empire  to  rally  to  his  Imperial  standard.  The 
magic  of  his  name  had  lost  its  charm.  All  past  per- 
formances of  the  Liberator  General  seem  to  have  been 
forgotten  in  the  hatred  now  inspired  by  the  arrogance, 
extravagances  and  personal  vainty  of  the  Emperor. 
The  Ides  of  March  had  indeed  come  for  this  new  world 
Caesar.  On  the  nineteenth  of  that  month,  in  1823, 
Augustine  the  First  abdicated  from  the  throne  of  Mex- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  71 

ico.  And  the  blanketed  hoi  polloi  proved  very  gener- 
ous in  their  hour  of  triumph.  They  voted  Don  Augus- 
tine de  Iturbide  an  annual  pension  of  $25,000  condi- 
tional upon  his  living  abroad.  Iturbide  with  his  fam- 
ily took  up  his  residence  at  Nice.  Like  the  great  Ma- 
son he  had  taken  for  his  model,  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
poor  Iturbide  in  exile,  was  constantly  dreaming  of  a 
recall  by  his  people.  He  yearned  deeply  for  that  power, 
his  no  longer. 

In  Mexico  far-seeing  Santa  Anna,  fully  appreciat- 
ing the  calibre  of  the  soldier  who  had  terminated 
Spanish  rule  in  one  short  year,  not  underestimating 
the  personal  ability  of  the  man  who  had  been  his  em- 
peror, craftily  prevailed  upon  the  Mexican  Congress  to 
enact  a  law  decreeing  the  death  of  Don  Augustin  de 
Iturbide,  should  he  ever  again  set  foot  on  Mexican  soil. 
The  man  against  whom  this  cruel  enactment  was 
made,  in  his  faraway  exile,  knew  nothing  of  his 
Machiavellian  enemy's  machinations.  He  heard  only 
that  Mexico  was  once  more  in  a  state  of  dire  anarchy. 
Promptly  he  responded  to  what  he  deemed  his  coun- 
try's need.  He  felt  assured  that  the  army  would  quick- 
ly flock  to  the  standard  of  the  Liberator  General. 
Alas,  instead  of  a  welcome  at  Vera  Cruz  he  found 
prison  bars.  On  July  19,  1824,  the  soldier  whose  sword 
had  won  for  him  a  new  world  throne,  was  shot  by  men 
he  had  often  led  to  victory. 

More  to  Don  Augustin  de  Iturbide  than  to  any 
other  man  does  Mexico  owe  her  independence  of  Spain. 
He  was  as  intrepid  as  a  lion,  farseeing,  a  shrewd  diplo- 
mat, a  natural  politician,  with  a  pleasing  personality 
and,  best  of  all,  a  Mason  of  the  Masons.  It  was  Itur- 
bide's  great  misfortune  to  have  been  born  an  aristo- 


72  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

crat.  It  seems  but  natural  that  in  the  little  hour  of 
his  prosperity  he  should  have  favored  his  class.  To 
his  own  vanity  he  fell  a  victim,  but  more  he  was  the 
victim  of  the  selfishness  and  fickleness  of  the  people 
for  whom  he  had  done  so  much,  a  people  he  had 
brought  from  the  darkness  to  the  light,  a  people  he 
had  perhaps  served  best  when  he  firmly  told  His  Emi- 
nence that  for  Mexico  the  Inquisition  had  had  its  day 
forever.  So  ended  the  first  revolution  in  Mexico  with 
the  establishment  of  the  Republic  on  October  10,  1824. 

A  peon  of  the  peons  it  was  whose  privilege  it  be- 
came to  take  up  the  reins  of  power  rudely  snatched 
from  an  aristocrat  of  the  aristocrats.  General  Guada- 
lupe Victoria,  the  old  guerrilla  chieftain,  was  chosen 
first  President  of  Mexico.  Anarchy  soon  followed. 
Not  a  year  passed  but  some  new  aspirant  for  power 
unleashed  the  dogs  of  war  against  the  incumbent  of 
the  presidency.  Guerrero  enjoyed  a  little  period  of 
power  as  third  President,  and  in  due  course  was  shot 
in  1831  by  the  people  whose  freedom  he  had  so  long 
striven  for.  For  fifty  years  General  Antonio  Lopez  de 
Santa  Anna  played  a  melodramatic  part  in  the  drama 
of  Mexican  history,  now  as  President,  again  as  dicta- 
tor; at  times  an  exile,  at  others  the  popular  idol,  oc- 
casionally a  hunted  fugitive,  yet  ever  in  the  public  eye, 
this  irrepressible,  omnipresent,  crafty,  soldier-states- 
man and  Scottish  Rite  Mason,  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa 
Anna.  After  him  came  the  few  years'  fiasco  of  em- 
peror Maximilian,  then  the  reestablished  Republic  of 
another  Mason,  Benito  Juarez,  until  for  thirty  years 
the  iron  hand  of  grim  old  Porfirio  Diaz,  another  popu- 
lar idol  held  supreme  sway  until  swept  aside  by  the 
young  idealist,  Don  Francisco  Madero,  Jr. 


CHAPTER  IV 

DON     ANTONIO     LOPEZ     DE     SANTA     ANNA- 
RENEGADE  MASON 

When  General  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna  of 
the  Mexican  Scottish  Rite  issued  a  pronunciamiento 
against  his  brother-Mason,  the  Emperor  Iturbide, 
many  Mexican  Masons  approved  his  act  as  one  of 
purest  patriotism.  The  leaders  of  York  Rite  Masonry 
— Don  Vincente  Guerrero,  Don  Guadalupe  Victoria, 
and  Don  Nicolas  Bravo — speedily  led  their  armies  to 
the  support  of  the  revolting  young  commandante  at 
Vera  Cruz.  In  consequence  the  empire  collapsed  com- 
pletely. Another  Mason,  occupied  the  Hall  of  the 
Montezumas.  He  was  Don  Guadalupe  Victoria,  first 
president  of  the  newly  born  Republic  of  Mexico. 

Now  we  must  not  blind  ourselves  to  the  true  mo- 
tives which  served  as  an  incentive  to  Santa  Anna  in 
espousing  the  cause  of  liberalism  as  against  abso- 
lutism. Young  and  inexperienced  as  he  was  at  that 
time,  Santa  Anna  had  already  formulated  future  plans 
for  "a  career"  in  the  drama  of  Mexican  politics.  As 
profound  a  student  of  history  as  he  was  of  men,  he 
had  set  up  as  his  idol  and  model,  another  great  Mason, 
the  Corsican,  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Already  he  was 
dreaming  of  the  time  when  he,  too,  might  wield  a 
sceptre.  First  must  be  crushed  forever,  all  such  "dan- 
gerous" men  as  Augustin  de  Iturbide,  General  Guer- 
rero, and  other  able  soldiers  who  had  been  sorely 
tested  in  the  crucible  of  their  country's  needs  and  not 
found  wanting. 


74  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

The  leniency  of  the  Mexican  Congress  in  allowing 
the  deposed  emperor  to  depart  into  exile  with  a  sub- 
stantial pension  was  not  at  all  pleasing  to  the  in- 
triguing Santa  Anna.  He  had  in  mind  the  ever-pres- 
ent possibility  that  the  fickle  Mexicans  might  recall 
their  Liberator  General.  To  forfend  any  such  dire 
happening  for  himself,  Santa  Anna  persuaded  the 
puppet  legislators  in  the  Mexican  capitol  to  pass  a  de- 
cree of  death  upon  Iturbide,  effective  the  moment  he 
might  again  set  foot  upon  Mexican  territory.  In  this 
case  Santa  Anna  was  gifted  with  remarkable  fore- 
sight. He  knew  that  the  arrogant  clergy,  having  noth- 
ing to  look  for  from  the  Republic,  would  cajole  the  un- 
fortunate Iturbide  into  making  another  dash  for  his 
throne,  preferring  to  depend  upon  a  certain  amount  of 
tolerance  under  absolutism,  than  fare  so  desperately 
as  they  must  under  men  like  Victoria,  Guerrero  and 
Bravo,  patriots  true  and  tried.  At  the  behest  of  the 
priests  he  had  hitherto  despised,  Iturbide  hearkened 
to  the  supposed  voice  of  his  people.  He  landed  at  Soto 
la  Marina,  to  be  forthwith  dropped  from  a  living  per- 
pendicular to  a  dead  level  by  the  bullets  of  republican 
rifles. 

A  great  many  of  the  Mexican  Scottish  Rite  Ma- 
sons had  become  thoroughly  disgusted  with  the 
treacherous  politics  being  played  by  General  Santa 
Anna  and  his  satellites.  When  a  few  years,  later,  Pres- 
ident Guerrero  of  the  York  Rite  was  ruthlessly  assas- 
sinated, a  number  of  Masons  from  both  factions  con- 
cluded that  the  time  was  ripe  in  Mexico  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  Masonic  rite.  Thus  was  established 
"The  Mexican  National  Rite,"  composed  of  both  Scot- 
tish and  York  Rite  Masons,  openly  declaring  the  in- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  75 

tent  that  among  Masons  must  prevail  peace  and  har- 
mony, as  the  strength  of  the  institution;  and  when- 
ever and  wherever  necessary,  war  must  be  waged  up- 
on the  clergy,  the  common  foe  of  all  Masonic  bodies. 
These  pioneers  of  the  new  Rite,  ultimately  numbering 
in  its  ranks  such  eminent  Mexicans  as  Ocampo,  Ar- 
teaga,  Farias,  Lerdo  de  Tejada,  Juarez,  Perez,  Esco- 
bedo,  Corona  and  Porfirio  Diaz,  well  understood  the 
innate  selfishness  and  Machiavellian  unscrupulousness 
of  Don  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna.  Nor  had  they 
any  inclination  to  lend  Masonry  and  its  intricate  ma- 
chinery, even  then  a  controlling  factor  in  the  national 
scheme,  to  the  purely  personal  purposes  of  the  Scot- 
tish Rite  general.  As  early  as  1833  the  leaders  of  the 
Mexican  National  Rite  fearlessly  declared  their  public 
policy  for  all  future  time:  "absolute  freedom  of 
thought  and  speech;  the  freedom  of  the  press;  the 
abolishment  of  all  the  peculiar  privileges  claimed  by 
the  Catholic  clergy  and  the  military  caste  as  a  heri- 
tage; the  suppression  of  monastic  institutions;  the 
curtailment  of  monopolies;  the  protection  of  Liberal 
Arts  and  industries;  the  development  of  libraries  and 
free  schools ;  the  abolition  of  capital  punishment  and 
colonial  expansion." 

Compare,  if  you  will,  this  enlightened  Mexican 
Masonic  allocution  of  1833  with  the  splendid  Laws  of 
Reform  of  1858;  you  will  find  a  marked  similitude. 
Nor  do  I  mean  to  detract  from  the  guerdon  of  praise 
due  the  greatest  of  all  the  Inspectors  General  of  the 
Mexican  National  Rite,  Don  Benito  Juarez,  who  after 
years  of  untold  disappointments,  and  unparalleled  sac- 
rifices, eventually  consummated  the  Laws  of  Reform 
in  Mexico, — essentially  Masonic  laws. 


76  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Santa  Anna,  utterly  unabashed  by  the  silent  re- 
buke administered  him  by  his  brethren  when  they 
formed  their  National  Rite,  leaving  him  without  its 
pale,  plunged  more  feverishly  into  the  maelstrom  of 
Mexican  politics,  being  still  supported  by  many  of  his 
Scottish  Rite  satellites.  Right  well  did  he  play  the 
game:  five  times  President  of  the  Republic,  almost  as 
many  times  military  dictator;  when  his  star  was  in 
the  ascendant  seeing  Mexico  abased  at  his  feet;  more 
times  than  once  a  hated  exile,  yet  unwilling  even  from 
afar  to  lose  his  iron  grip  upon  his  country,  with  un- 
blushing effrontery  this  daring  political  adventurer 
presumed  to  dictate  as  to  who  might  sit  in  the  high 
place  at  Mexico  City,  or  else  to  threaten  a  new  and 
more  formidable  revolution. 

There  was  a  mysterious  something  about  the  per- 
sonality of  this  daring,  dashing,  southland  soldier- 
schemer,  an  inherent  dramatic  instinct  for  staging 
coup  d'etat  so  dear  to  the  Latin  heart;  a  fascinating 
something  in  the  very  unusual  characteristics  con- 
tributing to  his  striking  personality,  that  gave  him  a 
following  even  at  times  most  desperate,  and  for  many 
long  years.  In  all  his  troubled,  stormy  career  Santa 
Anna  only  once  met  his  master,  a  man  of  finer,  nobler 
mold,  a  man  of  equally  iron  will  and  far  higher  ideals. 
This  was  Don  Benito  Juarez,  a  man  so  imbued  with 
true  Masonic  charity  that  he  could  forgive  the  unfor- 
giveable,  and  pardon  Santa  Anna  for  attempting  to 
strike  a  vital  blow  at  the  one  thing  Juarez  loved  bet- 
ter than  all  other  things  on  earth,  the  Republic  of 
Mexico. 

When  the  need  was,  even  as  the  Mason  Santa 
Anna  scrupled  not  at  all  to  manipulate  the  Ancient 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  77 

and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  for  the  furtherance  of  his 
ambitions,  so  not  at  all  did  he  scorn  to  call  to  his  aid 
the  powerful  hierarchy  of  Rome,  when  the  Mexican 
clergy  seemed  to  wield  the  balance  of  power,  as  was 
often  the  case.  To  do  so,  Santa  Anna  must  of  course 
make  concessions.    Such  were: 

Church  property  and  Church  revenues  shall  be  inviolable. 
There  shall  be  restoration  in  to  to  of  the  special  privileges  of 
the  clergy  and  military  caste. 

Reaffirmation  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  as  the  one 
and  only  religion  of  Mexico.  Censorship  of  the  Press  and  Pub- 
lic Expression. 

The  confining  of  immigration  to  individuals  from  Catholic 
countries. 

The  abolition  of  the  Institute  of  Sciences  in  Oaxaca. 

This  last  was  the  one  liberal  college  in  all  Mexico, 
a  college  numbering  in  its  faculty  and  among  its  spon- 
sors some  of  the  most  active  adherents  of  the  Mexican 
National  Rite. 

Whenever  he  needed  support  from  the  Roman 
hierarchy  Santa  Anna  rigidly  enforced  the  "Plan  of 
Tacubaya,"  outlined  above.  This  was  and  is  now,  with 
restrictions,  "the  platform"  of  Mexican  clericalism. 
There  were  times  in  the  Dictator's  heyday  of  power, 
when  it  suited  him  to  compel  even  the  arrogant  Cath- 
olic clergy  to  yield  to  his  whims,  even  at  considerable 
sacrifice  of  their  own  personal  dignity.  One  of  these 
occasions  is  not  without  humor. 

At  the  battle  of  Vera  Cruz  when  Santa  Anna  was 
opposing  the  French  he  lost  a  leg.  Having  achieved 
ultimate  success,  and  wishing  to  humble  the  priests, 
whom  at  heart  he  hated,  he  sent  orders  to  Mexico  City 
that  preparations  be  made  forthwith  for  the  reception 
of  his  limb  with  full  church  ceremonials,  and  solemn 
interment  in  the  Catholic  cemetery  of  St.  Paul.     Of 


78  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

course  the  Archbishop  of  Mexico  was  horrified;  he 
protested:  "There  is  no  precedent  for  religious  serv- 
ices over  a  leg,  your  Serene  Highness;  it  is  not  to  be 
thought  of."  "Let  us  establish  a  precedent  in  that 
case,  Your  Reverence.  Mine  was  a  Christian  leg;  it 
deserves  a  Christian  burial.  So  mote  it  be,"  quoth  the 
facetious  Don  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna. 

Therefore  it  happened  that  upon  the  27th  day  of 
September,  1842,  the  Archbishop  of  Mexico,  the 
clergy,  the  Mexican  army  and  the  hoi  polloi  turned  out 
en  masse  to  participate  in  the  unusual  ceremonial  of 
the  interment  of  General  Santa  Anna's  leg.  After  the 
choir  boys  had  sung  their  masses,  the  priests  mumbled 
their  prayers,  the  higher  dignitaries  invoked  due 
blessings,  and  a  firing  squad  given  martial  salute,  a 
certain  Don  Ignacio  Sierra  y  Rosa  indulged  in  a 
flowery  oration,  and  dedicated  a  very  costly  monu- 
ment to  the  defunct  limb,  so  concluding  an  historic 
farce. 

Rome  never  forgets;  never  forgives.  Exactly  two 
years  after  this  drollest  of  funeral  ceremonies,  the 
Archbishop  of  Mexico  placed  the  ban  of  the  church 
upon  Santa  Anna's  demand  of  a  forced  loan  of  $4,000,- 
000,  and  even  the  Army  revolted.  For  a  while  the 
Clergy  held  smugly  aloof,  awaiting  results.  Tacitly  if 
not  openly,  they  were  quite  ready  to  abandon  him  by 
whose  grace  they  had  been  permitted  to  return  to 
Mexico  and  help  plunder  the  poor  natives.  When  the 
mobs  in  the  capitol  arose,  it  was  their  priests  who  led 
them  to  the  cemetery  of  St.  Paul  and  helped  them 
overturn  the  stately  monument  to  Santa  Anna's  leg. 
What  remained  of  the  "Christian  Limb"  was  kicked 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  79 

and  tossed  about  the  purlieus  of  the  city  until  even 
the  callous  mob  wearied  of  its  sordid  sport. 

With  Santa  Anna's  absence  from  the  scene  the 
Mexican  National  Rite  slowly  gathered  strength. 
From  its  Institute  of  Sciences  in  Oaxaca  is  sent  out  a 
small  army  of  educated  young  men,  ready  and  willing 
when  the  time  should  come  to  flock  to  the  defense  of 
Liberalism  as  against  Clericalism  in  Mexico.  While 
students  like  Juarez  and  Diaz  and  young  Perez  were 
being  trained  for  the  inevitable  battle  between  Church 
and  State,  a  few  brilliant  Catholic  statesmen  like  Don 
Gutierrez  Estrada  sought  to  stem  the  propagation  of 
democratic  thought  by  boldly  proclaiming  in  the  Mex- 
ican Senate  that  racially  and  temperamentally  the  peo- 
ple were  quite  incapacitate  for  self-government,  that 
continuance  under  republican  rule  must  eventually 
mean  reversion  to  the  old  viceregal  system  or  sub- 
servience to  some  other  foreign  power,  if  not  old 
Spain. 

For  this  the  professors  of  the  Institute  of  Sciences 
had  their  answer.  They  pointed  out  how  the  Catholic 
church  in  Mexico  held  in  fee  simple  property  amount- 
ing to  more  than  $250,000,000,  or  one-half  of  the  landed 
estate  of  the  nation:  an  annual  income  of  approxi- 
mately $8,000,000.  Of  how  the  monastic  orders  and 
church  functionaries  were  maintained  by  an  army  of 
nearly  fifty  thousand  men.  As  to  the  monasteries 
themselves  they  were  the  shame  of  Mexico,  even  in 
days  when  lewdness  was  viewed  more  tolerantly  than 
as  civilization  advanced.  Even  the  Pope  protested 
from  distant  Rome,  but  the  Mexican  clergy  paid  him 
scant  heed.  They  were  swollen  with  pride  and  easy 
living.    Behind  them  they  had  the  Spanish  land  own- 


80  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 


ers,  the  subsidized  army,  all  that  wealth  and  en- 
trenched privileges  can  give.  When  need  was,  they 
had  to  lead  their  armies  the  most  dashing  soldier  of 
the  time — the  reckless,  dare-devil,  conscienceless 
Santa  Anna,  the  renegade  Mason,  who  when  not  per- 
mitted to  manipulate  the  greatest  utilitarian  brother- 
hood in  the  world  for  his  own  selfish  advantages, 
turned  to  its  age-old  enemy,  the  Catholic  church,  and 
smilingly  offered  to  crush  the  brothers  he  had  sworn 
to  defend. 

The  long  series  of  civil  wars  might  have  been 
precipitated  earlier  before  ever  Juarez,  Diaz,  Escobedo, 
Perez,  and  the  patriots  of  1858  were  ready,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  sudden  break  with  the  United  States, 
over  the  taking  into  the  Union  of  Texas,  regardless 
of  the  claim  of  ownership  to  that  vast  territory  still 
made  by  Mexico.  Of  course  such  a  soldier  as  Santa 
Anna  was  needed  to  lead  the  Mexican  armies  against 
the  invader.  Of  course  the  clergy  could  play  their 
part  and  did.  I  quote  from  the  official  report  of  Major 
General  Casey  of  the  United  States  Army,  in  the 
"Christian  World,"  Volume  XXIV,  page  47: 

"On  the  20th  of  August  the  battles  of  Contreras  and 
Cherubusco  were  fought.  At  the  latter  place  the  principal 
point  of  attack  was  a  fortified  convent,  and  the  American  army 
lost  1000  men  in  killed  and  wounded  by  the  obstinate  resist- 
ance. This  was  caused  by  the  presence  of  more  than  two  hun- 
dred deserters  from  the  American  army,  composed  mostly  of 
Catholic  Irish,  who  had  been  persuaded  to  desert  at  the  in- 
stigation of  the  Mexican  Catholic  priests.  Fifty  of  these  men 
were  afterwards  captured  and  hung,  the  drop  of  the  gallows 
falling  just  as  the  American  flag  went  up  on  the  castle  of 
Chapultepec." 

Of  the  same  incident  Rev.  William  Butler  says  in 

his  "Mexico  in  Transition" : 

"The  sectarian  treachery  of  the  Irish  deserters  might  have 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  81 

proved  to  be  overwhelming.  It  might  have  involved  the  de- 
struction of  the  whole  American  force,  which  was  so  small 
comparatively.  At  it  was,  it  cost  them  nearly  one-seventh  of 
their  whole  number.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  this  was 
not  the  first  time.  A  few  months  before,  a  similar  act  of 
treachery  had  occurred  in  General  Taylor's  command  ajt  Mon- 
terey, by  the  same  class  of  men  deserting  and  crossing  the 
river  to  join  their  co-religionists  on  the  other  side  and  help 
them  fight  the  Americans.  *  *  *  On  some  occasions  yet  to  come, 
the  celebrated  order  may  need  to  be  repeated  as  a  precaution, 
"put  none  but  Americans  on  guard  tonight." 

In  short  the  war  against  the  United  States,  even 
the  duplicity  and  guerilla  tactics  of  the  veteran  Santa 
Anna  could  not  prevail  against  the  hardier,  bulldog 
tenacity  of  the  Americans  led  by  such  generals  as 
Scott,  Taylor,  Pillow  and  Twiggs.  A  succession  of 
Mexican  reverses  at  Santa  Fe,  Matamoras,  Monterey, 
Bracito,  San  Luis  Potosi,  Vera  Cruz,  Cerra  Gordo,  and 
Churubusco  found  Santa  Anna  at  bay,  with  the  Mexi- 
can Capital  threatened  on  every  side  by  the  soldiers  of 
the  northland.  On  the  eve  of  the  fall  of  Chapultepec, 
the  key  to  Mexico  City,  Santa  Anna  fled  with  his  staff, 
but,  determined  to  wreak  vengeance  on  the  gringoes, 
stole  stealthily  upon  Puebla,  where  the  American 
Colonel  Childs,  with  a  small  force  stood  guard  over 
eighteen  hundred  sick  and  wounded  Americans.  So 
fierce  was  the  resistance  that  the  fleeing  dictator  was 
prevented  from  putting  into  effect  the  wholesale  mas- 
sacre he  had  had  in  mind.  Lane's  reinforcements  led 
him  to  continue  his  flight. 

In  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  consummat- 
ing peace  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
Santa  Anna  had  but  little  voice.  His  successive  re- 
verses in  the  war  had  taken  much  from  the  prestige 
of  his  name,  and  the  Mexicans  were  content  to  allow 
him  the  obscurity  of  exile  for  five  years. 


82  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

In  1853  the  fickle  people  permitted  him  to  return, 
and  he  at  once  proclaimed  himself  dictator.  His  very 
first  official  act  was  the  same  mistake  which  ultimate- 
ly led  to  the  downfall  of  his  great  successor,  Diaz,  per- 
mission for  return  of  the  Jesuits  to  Mexico,  from 
which  they  had  been  banished.  When  he  realized  that 
his  tenure  of  office  was  foredoomed,  Santa  Anna  dis- 
patched the  Catholic  Estrada  to  Europe  to  negotiate 
for  the  coming  of  Maximilian,  so  hoping  to  perpetuate 
the  power  of  the  Jesuits,  who  had  led  to  his  undoing, 
and  thus  strike  a  fatal  blow  to  the  aspirations  of 
Juarez  and  the  liberal  party.  There  came  sudden  de- 
positions, a  trial  for  high  treason,  a  sentence  of  death 
by  hanging, — Santa  Anna  was  in  desperate  straits  in- 
deed. A  greater  Mexican  than  he,  however,  Don 
Benito  Juarez,  now  his  master;  a  man  of  finer,  nobler 
mold,  a  man  of  equally  iron  will,  and  far  higher  ideals, 
a  man  so  imbued  with  true  Masonic  Charity,  that  he 
could  forgive  the  unforgiveable,  found  it  in  his  heart 
to  commute  the  traitor's  sentence  and  pardon  Santa 
Anna. 

And  so  Santa  Anna  ceased  to  trouble  Mexico. 
Greater  men  than  he  now  strutted  upon  the  Mexican 
stage  to  continue  the  duel  al  muerte  between  Church 
and  State,  between  the  Jesuits  and  the  Freemasons. 


CHAPTER  V 

DON  BENITO  JUAREZ 
FATHER  OF  THE  MEXICAN  CONSTITUTION 

In  the  hilly  country  about  San  Pablo  Guelatao,  the 
Zapotecan  boy,  Benito  Juarez,  tended  his  uncle's 
flocks.  He  was  undersized,  swarthy,  poorly  nourished, 
with  a  mournful  cast  of  countenance,  sharp,  scintillat- 
ing eyes,  rather  high  forehead  and  the  wiry  black  hair 
characteristic  of  the  Aztec  native  sons.  Through  the 
long  hot  days,  he  led  his  lonesome  little  existence,  to 
return  at  night  to  the  sordid,  humble  jacal  of  his  rela- 
tives, receiving  a  scant  dole  of  food  and  more  times 
than  one  a  sound  beating.  Tradition  tells  us  that  his 
uncle  was  a  perverse  man  of  utterly  uncontrollable 
temper,  venting  his  spleen  upon  the  little  lad  chance 
had  thrust  upon  his  bounty. 

Came  a  day  when  the  boy  rebelled,  and  stealing 
along  the  highway,  set  forth  for  the  great  city  of 
Oaxaca,  twenty  miles  distant,  where  lived  a  sister  *  *  * 
where  too  was  the  mighty  Pontifical  Seminary,  the 
Monastery  of  Santo  Domingo  and  the  Institute  oi 
Sciences,  this  last  supported  by  the  Liberals  of  Mex- 
ico. 

It  was  no  small  undertaking  for  a  barefoot,  illy- 
clad  boy  to  compass  this  considerable  distance,  yet 
Benito  proved  equal  to  the  task  and  came  at  last  to 
the  city  of  his  dreams,  footsore,  weary  and  well- spent, 
to  find  the  people  upon  their  knees  in  the  dust  in  salu- 
tation to  two  lumbering,  fat  friars,  who  had  issued 
from  the  monastery.    The  same  tradition  tells  us  that 


84  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

because  the  boy,  alone  of  all  the  throng,  failed  to  make 
obeisance,  one  of  the  priests  admiring  his  independ- 
ence, gave  him  a  kindly  word  instead  of  the  expected 
rebuke,  and  promised  him  a  place  to  study  and  work 
at  the  monastery. 

"For  you  shall  be  a  priest,  my  muchacho,"  the 
friar  promised. 

Benito  did  not  reply  in  words.  Of  Spanish  he 
knew  little.  Only  his  furtive,  black  Indian  eyes  flashed 
forth  defiance  as  he  abruptly  turned  his  back.  Of 
priests  as  seen  by  him  at  San  Pablo  Guelatao  the  lad 
had  conceived  no  great  opinion.  They  were  a  lazy  lot. 
The  very  servility  exhibited  by  these  city  folks  in 
Oaxaca  at  the  sight  of  two  lumbering  friars,  appealed 
not  at  all  to  the  independent  spirit  of  the  Zapatecan 
boy. 

In  due  time  he  found  his  sister's  house.  She  pro- 
cured him  work  at  the  home  of  Don  Joaquin  Salaneuva, 
a  wealthy  gentleman  intimately  associated  with  the 
Clerical  Party. 

Salaneuva  soon  saw  possibilities  in  the  energetic 
little  fellow  attached  to  his  menage,  and  personally  in- 
structed him  in  Spanish  and  the  elementals.  Present- 
ly he  entered  his  protege  as  a  scholar  in  the  Ecclesias- 
tical Seminary. 

"You  shall  be  a  priest,  Benito,"  he  promised  the 
boy. 

Young  Juarez  said  nothing  but  devoted  himself 
to  his  studies  with  assiduity,  eventually  graduating 
with  high  honors  in  Latin  and  Philosophy.  One  year 
he  gave  to  the  study  of  Theology  which  appealed  to 
him  not  at  all.  When  his  chum,  Don  Miguel  Mendez, 
left  the  Seminary  to  enter  upon  the  study  of  Law  at 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  85 

the  heretic  Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  it  did  not 
take  Juarez  long  to  follow  suit,  although  by  so  doing 
he  lost  the  friendship  of  Salaneuva  and  two  other  stu- 
dent friends,  Don  Isadora  Sanchez,  and  Don  Francisco 
Parra,  with  whom  he  had  been  qualifying  for  the 
priesthood. 

Another  friend  he  found,  however,  in  Don  Marcos 
Perez,  who  filled  the  Chair  of  Law  at  the  Institute, 
and  who  besides  was  an  ardent  Mason.  With  his  new 
friend's  aid,  Juarez  sought  and  found  Masonic  Light 
in  the  Mexican  National  Rite,  then  the  militant  Ma- 
sonic Body  of  the  Nation. 

It  did  not  take  the  little  group  of  Liberals  at 
Oaxaca  long  before  realization  that  in  young  Juarez 
had  been  found  the  needed  leader  of  their  party.  He 
was  a  radical  of  the  radicals. 

Simultaneously  with  his  receiving  his  degrees  of 
Bachelor-in-Law  he  was  elected  a  Deputy  to  the  State 
Legislature. 

In  1836  he  was  thrown  into  prison  for  supposed 
connection  with  one  of  the  many  revolutionary  move- 
ments of  the  period.  His  friends  celebrated  his  re- 
lease by  making  him  Civil  Judge  of  the  State  Treasury 
Department,  from  which  he  was  quickly  transferred 
to  the  more  important  office  of  Secretary  of  the  State 
of  Oaxaca.  When  the  Republicans  gained  complete 
control  of  the  State  in  1846,  a  triumvirate  was  formed 
consisting  of  Don  Benito  Juarez,  Fernandez  del  Campo 
and  J.  M.  Arteaga. 

In  1846  Juarez  had  his  first  essay  in  the  larger 
arena  of  national  politics.  He  was  elected  by  his  con- 
stituency as  a  Deputy  to  the  General  Constituent 
Congress  of  the  Nation  assembled  at  Mexico  City. 


86  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Don  V.  Gomez  Farias,  Grand  Master  of  the  Mex- 
ican National  Rite  of  Freemasons,  was  also  President 
of  the  Republic.  To  the  new  Congress  he  proposed  a 
bill  for  the  raising  of  a  loan  of  $14,000,000  on  the 
property  of  the  Clergy,  with  the  alternative  that  if 
such  a  loan  could  not  be  negotiated,  all  church  prop- 
erty should  be  sold  until  the  amount  needed  by  the 
nation  should  be  at  hand.  This  was  the  first  assault 
of  the  Mexican  National  Rite  upon  the  Roman  hier- 
archy. 

An  immense  uproar  was  at  once  precipitated. 
Lines  were  closely  drawn.  The  Clerical  Party  and 
Monarchists,  backed  by  the  Conservatives,  were  led 
by  Otero,  the  Radicals  or  supporters  of  Farias  by  Don 
Benito  Juarez. 

Upon  vote,  the  President's  Bill  passed  by  a  bare 
majority. 

The  fame  of  Juarez  had  preceded  him  to  his  na- 
tive state,  and  upon  his  return  in  November  1847  he 
was  elected  Governor  of  Oaxaca. 

There  was  plenty  of  work  at  hand.  Mexico  was 
at  war  with  the  United  States.  The  Oaxaca  Division 
under  General  Leon  suffered  severly  at  Molino  del  Rey. 
Juarez  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost  to  raise  new 
troops  and  himself  established  a  state  factory  and 
munition  plant. 

Now  came  his  first  personal  clash  with  Antonio 
Lopez  de  Santa  Anna,  a  clash  which  while  he  scored  a 
victory  was  yet  to  cost  him  dearly. 

Santa  Anna,  defeated  repeatedly  by  the  Ameri- 
cans, discredited  by  his  own  army,  fled  with  a  few 
faithful  followers  to  the  borders  of  Oaxaca  and  im- 
mediately requisitioned  Governor  Juarez  to  turn  over 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  87 

the  command  of  the  new  Oaxacan  soldiery  with  all 
their  batteries  and  arms  to  his  leadership.  Juarez  re- 
fused and  forbade  Santa  Anna's  e»try  into  Oaxaca. 

Peace  came.  The  Governor  found  leisure  for 
pleasanter  pursuits. 

With  the  aid  of  the  National  Rite  of  Mexico 
which  had  its  ramifications  in  every  large  city  of  Mex- 
ico, Benito  Juarez  spread  his  propaganda  to  the  native 
sons,  hurling  defiance  at  Santa  Anna  who  was  now 
the  recognized  champion  of  the  Church  party,  per- 
jured, foresworn,  autocratic  Santa  Anna — a  renegade 
Mason. 

Juarez  was  constantly  denouncing  the  abuses  of 
the  Roman  Hierarchy  from  the  Institute  of  Sciences. 
He  it  was  who  brought  about  the  banishment  of  the 
Jesuits  from  Mexico. 

When  the  Dictator,  Santa  Anna,  recalled  that 
hated  Order,  Juarez  protested  loudly.  In  reply,  Santa 
Anna  closed  the  great  Liberal  Institute,  arrested 
Juarez  and  sent  him  to  San  Juan  de  Uloa.  Here,  for 
many  days  Don  Benito  Juarez  suffered  every  indig- 
nity, biding  his  time,  buoyed  up  by  the  knowledge  that 
his  brethren  on  the  outside  would  eventually  find  a 
means  to  set  him  free. 

His  arrest  and  incarceration  in  this  most  horrible 
of  Mexican  prisons  was  the  one  spark  needed  to  re- 
kindle the  smoldering  fires  of  resentment  against  the 
Dictator  and  his  supporting  Clericals. 

Santa  Anna  in  the  capital  seemed  possessed  of  im- 
measurable advantages.  Behind  him  he  had  the 
Army,  the  Jesuits,  and  the  unlimited  resources  of  the 
Roman  Hierarchy,  the  aristocracy  with  their  great 
landed  estates,  government  funds  of  over  $20,000,000 


88  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

and  a  new  nest  egg  acquired  from  the  sale  to  the 
United  States  of  a  section  of  Sonora  for  $10,000,000. 

Indeed,  Santa  Anna's  position  seemed  impreg- 
nable. 

Unfortunately  for  himself,  the  Dictator  had  for- 
gotten entirely  the  Great  Brotherhood  he  had  be- 
trayed, whose  dominating  spirit  he  had  outraged  by 
condemning  Juarez  to  imprisonment  at  San  Juan  de 
Uloa. 

Simultaneously  with  the  arrest  of  Juarez,  came 
the  pronunciamiento  against  Santa  Anna,  by  General 
Juan  Alvarez,  an  old  veteran  of  the  Revolution  against 
Spain.  To  this  doughty  leader  came  young  Porfirio 
Diaz,  who  had  fought  his  way  out  of  Oaxaca  and 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  band  of  poorly  armed 
Indians,  defeating  a  superior  force  of  government 
troops. 

The  long  fight  was  now  on. 

Through  the  secret  connivance  of  the  Mexican 
Nationals,  Don  Benito  Juarez  was  enabled  to  make  his 
escape  from  the  fortress  of  San  Juan  de  Uloa,  to  New 
Orleans,  from  which  city  he  took  passage  for  Acapulco, 
where  Alvarez,  Diaz,  and  the  Liberal  Army  were 
awaiting  the  advance  of  the  forces  of  Santa  Anna. 

In  the  ensuing  battle,  the  Dictator  suffered  one  of 
his  most  disastrous  defeats.  Condemned  by  courtmar- 
tial  to  be  hanged  for  high  treason  Santa  Anna  owed 
his  life  to  the  clemency  of  the  Masonic  Brother  he  had 
sought  to  immure  for  life  in  the  fetid  dungeons  of  San 
Juan  de  Uloa. 

Alvarez  was  chosen  President  of  the  Republic. 
Juarez  became  Minister  of  Justice  and  Religion. 

With  the  Liberals  now  in  power,  there  was  an  op- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  89 

portunity  for  putting  into  practice  some  of  the  Laws 
first  proclaimed  by  the  National  Mexican  Rite  as  early 
as  1833. 

The  Laws  of  Reform,  drawn  up  by  Juarez,  and 
passed  by  the  Mexican  Congress  Feb.  12,  1857,  sub- 
stantially provided: 

"Separation  of  Church  and  State ;  Abolition  of  the 
privileges  heretofore  claimed  by  Clergy  and  Military 
Caste;  Non-establishment  of  any  especial  religion; 
Non-recognition  of  religious  festivals  on  other  days 
than  Sundays;  Confinement  of  religious  exercises  to 
places  of  worship ;  Barring  of  clerical  habiliments  from 
the  streets ;  Prohibition  of  religious  processions ;  Limi- 
tations in  the  use  of  Church-bells;  Pulpit  discourses 
counselling  disobedience  to  the  law,  or  injury  to  any 
one  not  permissible;  All  worship  to  be  public;  Aboli- 
tion of  Monastic  Orders;  Restrictions  upon  the  gifts 
of  real  estate  to  the  Church ;  Suppression  of  the  Sis- 
ters of  Charity;  Banishment  of  the  Jesuits  forever; 
Matrimony  by  Civil  contract ;  Opening  of  Cemeteries 
to  burial  of  all  persons  indiscriminately;  Relaxation 
from  religious  vows;  Free  and  compulsory  education 
in  the  public  schools/' 

The  Clerical  Forces  driven  to  the  last  ditch  aligned 
themselves  throughout  the  Republic.  With  them  was 
the  army. 

Alvarez  faced  a  divided  Cabinet,  Juarez,  firm,  un- 
shakeable,  leading  the  Liberals,  Comonfort  the  party 
in  favor  of  greater  moderation. 

As  the  revolt  of  the  Church  Party  grew  in 
strength,  Alvarez  resigned  in  favor  of  Comonfort. 

The  new  President's  first  official  act  was  to  de- 
mand the  resignation  of  the  author  of  the  Laws  of  Re- 


90  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

form.  Juarez  cheerfully  complied.  He  would  have 
a  freer  hand  in  Oaxaca,  that  hot-bed  of  Liberalism. 
But  he  was  mistaken.  Upon  his  arrival  in  the  State 
Capital  he  found  himself  opposed  by  a  strong  party 
led  by  General  Jose  Garcia. 

Affairs  looked  black  indeed  for  the  Great  Reform- 
er. One  of  his  brother  Masons,  now  a  power  in  the 
state,  Don  Marcos  Perez,  sent  secret  word  to  young 
Porfirio  Diaz  at  Ixtlan.  That  ardent  Mason  rallied  the 
Indians  who  had  fought  with  him  a  few  years  before, 
and  rode  into  Oaxaca  to  defend  the  man  who  had 
saved  him  from  becoming  a  priest. 

Once  firmly  seated  as  Governor  of  Oaxaca,  Juarez 
renewed  his  activities  for  the  ultimate  overthrow  of 
Clericalism  in  Mexico.  Through  his  secret  emissaries 
in  Mexico  City,  a  law  was  promulgated  that  the  Church 
dispose  of  all  holdings  with  the  one  exception  of  build- 
ings actually  devoted  to  religious  services. 

In  dire  desperation  the  Roman  Hierarchy  refused 
the  privilege  of  the  Confessional  or  Absolution  to  any 
holder  of  ecclesiastical  property  procured  through 
purchase. 

This  stringent  measure  failing,  the  Clericals 
rallied  15,000  men  at  Puebla,  and  proclaimed  against 
Comonfort. 

Their  rising  was  quickly  quelled.  Confiscation  of 
Church  property  proceeded  more  rapidly.  The  Clergy 
were  disfranchised.  Freedom  of  the  press  was  added 
to  the  Laws  of  Reform.  Other  immigrants  than  those 
from  purely  Catholic  countries  might  now  enter  Mex- 
ico. 

Against  the  Laws  of  Reform,  the  Clericals  pro- 
mulgated the  old  plan  of  Tacubaya,  which  Santa  Anna 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  91 

had  fought  so  desperately  to  insure.  To  its  absolute 
revocation  of  all  the  laws  of  Juarez,  it  added  the  very 
unpatriotic  provision  for  the  establishment  of  a  mon- 
archy or  protectorate. 

The  Clergy  were  making  the  last  fight  for  Ab- 
solutism and  Class  Privileges  in  the  new  world. 

To  aid  them  Pope  Pius  IX  issued  one  of  his  char- 
acteristic allocutions.  Mexico  was  anathema.  Upon 
it  rested  the  curse  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  His  Holi- 
ness the  Pope  had  spoken.  Already  he  was  crystalliz- 
ing those  dangerous  doctrines  later  embodied  in  his 
famous  or  rather  his  infamous  Encyclical. 

A  better  ally  for  his  cause  Don  Benito  Juarez 
could  never  have  found  than  this  head  of  the  Mother 
Church,  Pope  Pius  IX,  whose  frankly  undiplomatic  ut- 
terances from  Rome  revealed  to  the  Mexicans  the 
amazing  fact  that  for  the  preservation  of  the  Catholic 
Faith  even  the  native  Clergy  were  willing  to  barter 
the  independence  of  Mexico  to  a  foreign  suzerainty. 

Juarez,  aided  by  Diaz  and  his  Indian  militia  sup- 
pressed successive  uprisings  of  the  Clericals  in  Oaxaca 
and  Tehauntepec. 

In  Mexico  City  affairs  were  not  running  smooth- 
ly. The  city  was  in  a  ferment.  Street  fighting  was  of 
daily  occurrence.  The  monks  who  had  been  drilling 
secretly  in  the  Convent  of  San  Francisco,  now  came 
boldly  out  into  the  open,  armed  and  eager  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  government.  With  difficulty  they  were 
repressed. 

This  by  no  means  dismayed  the  Clericals.  The 
Church  was  spending  money  with  a  lavish  hand.  Mer- 
cenaries and  professional  adventurers  flocked  to  the 
banner  of  Rome.     Skilled  fighters  like  Marquez  and 


92  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Miramon  assumed  the  leadership  of  the  forces  of  Ab- 
solutism. 

President  Comonfort  scented  danger  ahead.  He 
was  a  weakling. 

Too  late  he  sought  to  placate  the  priests.  He  de- 
clared against  Juarez  and  his  following  and  had  the 
great  Liberal  leader  arrested.  For  the  second  time 
poor  Don  Benito  Juarez  found  himself  helpless  in  a 
filthy  cell. 

Not  for  long.  Quickly  the  brethren  rallied.  After 
desperate  fighting  they  forced  the  flight  of  Comonfort, 
released  Juarez  and  elected  him  First  Constitutional 
President  of  Mexico. 

One  of  his  first  official  acts  was  the  enforcement 
of  Article  XV  amending  the  Mexican  Constitution  to 
the  effect  that  there  be  freedom  of  all  religious  creeds. 
His  next  decided  stand  was  upon  the  "suppression  of 
the  Order  of  Jesuits  and  the  confiscation  of  their  prop- 
erty." 

Determined  to  oppose  two  measures  which  meant 
ruin  to  their  cause,  the  Church  Party  made  a  supreme 
stand  in  Mexico  City,  led  by  the  Papal  Nuncio  de- 
menti, who  called  a  "Council  of  Notables"  and  pro- 
ceeded to  proclaim  General  Zuloaga  President  of  Mex- 
ico. 

President  Juarez  established  his  seat  of  govern- 
ment at  the  city  of  Guanajuato  and  received  the  al- 
legiance of  most  of  the  states  of  the  Republic.  From 
there  he  was  compelled  to  remove  to  the  city  of 
Guadalajara. 

Through  bribery  the  body-guard  of  Juarez,  made 
up  of  the  Fifth  Infantry,  was  led  to  declare  for  the 
Church.    They  seized  their  commandante,  old  General 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  93 

Nunez,  arrested  Juarez  and  his  Cabinet  and  held  them 
all  as  prisoners  of  war  in  the  palace. 

The  citizens  of  the  city,  enraged  at  this  treason, 
rallied  the  National  Guard  under  Don  Antonio  Alvarez. 
Messengers  were  sent  with  "signs  and  summons"  to 
General  Santos  Degollado,  then  Inspector  General  of 
the  Mexican  Rite,  and  one  of  the  Republican  Com- 
manders in  the  field. 

When  the  National  Guard  took  up  their  stations 
in  the  public  square  commanding  every  approach  to 
the  palace,  the  treacherous  officers  who  had  sold  them- 
selves to  the  Church  Party,  Landa  and  Morrett,  de- 
manded that  Juarez  send  an  order  to  the  militia  to 
suspend  their  firing.  His  reply  was  characteristic  of 
the  man: 

"You  tell  me  my  life  is  at  stake,  if  I  refuse.  So 
be  it.  The  life  of  an  individual  is  of  no  moment,  when 
the  fate  and  interests  of  a  whole  people  are  in  jeop- 
ardy." 

His  very  boldness  saved  his  life.  The  traitors 
capitulated  on  the  condition  of  being  allowed  to  with- 
draw from  the  city,  with  such  of  the  troops  as  still 
held  allegiance  to  the  Clericals. 

As  they  were  marching  away,  there  arrived  from 
Salamanca  the  two  Republican  Generals,  Degollado 
and  Parrodi,  the  latter  commander-in-chief  of  the  Fed- 
eral army. 

From  then  on,  Mexico's  government  was  in  the 
hands  of  a  wanderer  President.  On  his  way  to  Colima 
he  was  again  assailed  by  the  treacherous  Landa  and 
the  Church  Mercenaries,  his  forces  out-numbered,  and 
only  his  own  desperate  courage  held  his  little  escort 
from  capitulating. 


94  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Parrodi  was  out-maneuvered  at  Guadalajara,  and 
when  he  reached  Colima,  Juarez  appointed  his  faithful 
brother  Mason,  Santos  Degollado,  Minister  of  War  and 
Commandante  of  the  Federal  Army.  There  was  no 
army,  and  few  funds  worth  mentioning,  yet  Juarez 
did  not  despair.  He  had  placed  his  faith  on  the  loyalty 
of  the  Mexican  people  and  subsequent  events  showed 
that  it  was  well  founded. 

When  matters  seemed  desperate  at  Manzanillo, 
where  he  had  taken  temporary  headquarters,  Juarez 
took  passage  on  a  steamer  bound  for  Vera  Cruz,  which 
from  its  natural  advantages  seemed  admirably  adapted 
for  the  seat  of  government.  With  him  went  his  Cab- 
inet, Guzman,  Ruiz,  Prieto  and  Ocampo. 

The  superior  resources  of  the  Clericals  gave  them 
success  in  many  pitched  battles,  during  the  next  three 
years.  Doggedly  the  Liberals  refused  to  be  beaten. 
As  soon  as  one  army  was  defeated,  they  rallied  an- 
other. 

Presently  the  tide  turned.  The  armies  of  Juarez 
scored  a  few  victories  at  Soma,  Tepic,  Silao  and  Oax- 
aca. 

In  alarm,  the  Church  Party  turned  to  Europe  for 
aid.  They  had  already  secured  recognition  for  them- 
selves as  the  "de  facto"  government  by  Spain,  France 
and  England.  It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  from  the 
commencement  of  the  Civil  War,  the  United  States 
had  recognized  the  government  of  President  Juarez. 

Zuloaga  had  been  succeeded  by  General  Miramon 
in  the  leadership  of  the  Church  Party.  He  still  held 
his  seat  of  government  at  Mexico  City.  The  resources 
of  the  old  regime  were  constantly  growing  weaker. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  95 

They  knew  that  they  could  not  long  hold  out  against 
the  feverish  spread  of  Liberalism  throughout  Mexico. 

Rome's  agents  at  Paris  and  London  prevailed  up- 
on those  governments  to  offer  mediation.  Almost 
simultaneous  with  the  offer  of  the  French  and  British 
Ministers,  Miramon  menaced  Vera  Cruz  with  a  large 
army,  as  though  to  convince  Juarez  that  he  had  no 
alternative  but  to  submit. 

Don  Benito  Juarez  knew  the  crafty  foes  against 
whom  he  was  making  his  stand,  however.  He  knew 
that  Miramon,  hard  pressed  for  money,  had  borrowed 
immense  sums  from  the  Swiss  banker,  Jecker,  on  the 
promise  that  France  would  see  to  its  collection  with 
the  interest  due  from  Mexico.  He  knew  too,  that 
Miramon  had  violated  the  sanctity  of  the  British 
Legation  by  forcibly  taking  therefrom  $650,000  in 
cash,  deposited  by  the  Liberal  Government  with  the 
British  Minister,  in  payment  of  Mexico's  debt  to  Great 
Britain.  Much  justice  had  he  to  expect  from  these 
two  creditor  nations.  That  they  would  sustain  Mira- 
mon and  the  Church  Party  as  against  himself,  Juarez 
doubted  not  for  a  moment.  Therefore  he  rejected  the 
offers  at  mediation.    He  could  not  do  otherwise. 

Miramon  was  not  successful  in  taking  Vera  Cruz. 
His  situation  became  so  desperate  that  he  evacuated 
Mexico  City  on  Christmas  eve  of  1860. 

Benito  Juarez  entered  his  lawful  capital  early  in 
February  1861.  It  did  not  take  him  long  to  ascertain 
that  Miramon  and  his  Clerical  supporters  had  emptied 
the  Treasury.  Even  in  the  great  City  of  Mexico,  poor 
Juarez  found  himself  the  President  of  a  Republic  with- 
out any  pecuniary  resources  to  maintain  governmental 
operations.    As  a  first  protective  measure,  President 


96  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Juarez  suspended  all  payments  agreed  upon  in  diplo- 
matic conventions  for  the  period  of  two  years.  Con- 
gress supported  him. 

Rome  laughed.  Her  hour  had  come.  Her  puppet, 
the  French  Emperor,  had  been  waiting  for  the  rare 
opportunity  to  re-establish  Catholicism  as  the  State 
Religion  of  Mexico.  Another  puppet,  the  Catholic 
Archduke  of  Austria,  Maximilian,  was  selected  to  re- 
establish the  old  regime  in  the  New  World. 

Two  other  creditor  nations,  England  and  Spain, 
not  fully  understanding  the  real  animus  of  the  French, 
agreed  to  make  a  demonstration  in  force  against  the 
Mexican  Government,  with  the  object  of  procuring  the 
nullification  of  the  latest  law  of  Juarez. 

In  due  time,  the  armed  representatives  of  the 
three  creditor  nations  appeared  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  were 
permitted  to  land  their  troops  by  Juarez.  It  was  in 
the  most  unhealthy  season  of  the  year.  For  the  un- 
welcome visitors  to  sojourn  long  in  the  hot  lands  meant 
decimation  of  their  forces  from  yellow  fever.  Know- 
ing this,  Juarez  graciously  accorded  them  permission 
to  remove  into  the  healthier  hilly  country,  pending 
progress  of  negotiations,  upon  official  promise  that 
they  would  withdraw  in  case  the  conference  came  to 
naught.  . 

When  no  agreement  could  be  reached,  Spain  and 
England  held  to  their  pact.  France  repudiated  her 
plighted  honor  and  held  to  the  coigne  of  advantage 
secured  through  treachery. 

Enter  Maximilian,  a  son  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
supported  by  fifty  thousand  French  troops  under  the 
veteran  Marshal  Bazaine. 

The   first   formidable   essay  of  the  French  arms 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  97 

met  with  a  very  disastrous  defeat  at  Puebla  on  May 
5th,  1862.  One  of  the  Liberal  Generals  who  wrested 
the  laurels  of  victory  from  the  invaders,  was  the  same 
Porfirio  Diaz,  now  a  General,  who  long  ago  at  Oaxaca 
Benito  Juarez  had  dissuaded  from  becoming  a  priest 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  Now  a  soldier  and  a  Mason 
he  was  fighting  the  battle  for  Mexican  Independence. 
He  continued  in  the  field  for  all  the  succeeding  years 
of  the  French  occupation. 

In  May  1863,  the  French  had  thrown  such  rein- 
forcements into  the  field  that  longer  tenure  of  Mexico 
City  by  the  Republican  Government,  would  have  been 
suicidal. 

Juarez  reluctantly  abandoned  the  city  and  estab- 
lished his  new  headquarters  at  San  Luis  de  Potosi. 

Maximilian,  sustained  by  Marshall  Bazaine  and 
his  French  regulars,  assisted  by  the  Catholic  Mexican 
Generals  Mejia,  Miramon  and  Marquez,  this  latter 
known  as  "The  Tiger  of  Tacubaya,"  (because  he  had 
massacred  fifty  of  Juarez'  staff  of  officers  in  cold 
blood,)  now  ruled  at  Mexico  City. 

The  extravagances  of  the  new  regime,  the  cruel- 
ties perpetuated  upon  the  Liberals,  made  the  next  four 
years  a  saturnalia.  Rome  ruled  Mexico  through  her 
weakling  puppet,  Emperor  Maximilian,  held  upon  a 
tottering  throne  by  French  bayonets,  even  as  Pope 
Pius  IX  was  maintained  in  the  Vatican  through  the 
armies  of  the  unscrupulous  ruler  of  France. 

From  city  to  city  went  Juarez  and  his  Cabinet, 
still  issuing  their  decrees,  at  times  hard  pressed  for 
men  and  money,  yet  ever  confident  that  the  day  of 
Liberty  would  dawn  again  for  Mexico. 

A  picturesque  figure  indeed  the  peripatetic  Presi- 


98  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

dent  made,  in  his  sombre  black  suit,  traveling  in  a  mod- 
est diligencia  from  town  to  town,  ever  closely  pursued 
by  French  hirelings  and  traitor  Mexicans.  From  San 
Luis  Potosi  his  capitols  were  many,  Monterey,  Santa 
Catalina,  Chihuahua,  where  he  remained  until  he  was 
driven  to  the  very  border,  making  his  headquarters  at 
Paso  del  Norte  in  1865. 

Meanwhile  affairs  had  not  proceeded  any  too 
brightly  for  Maximilian.  His  administration  was 
handicapped  for  money,  and  his  European  sponsors 
neglected  to  fill  their  pledges.  He  was  unpopular  with 
his  Clerical  Advisors  because  he  refused  to  put  into 
active  practice  all  the  preposterous  punitive  measures 
they  deemed  fit  to  re-establish  Rome's  ascendancy 
over  the  native  born. 

Retribution  was  near,  however.  Our  own  Civil 
War  having  been  terminated,  the  United  States  had 
time  and  opportunity  to  thoroughly  look  into  the  Mex- 
ican question. 

A  diplomatic  hint  to  France  that  the  further  re- 
tention of  Marshall  Bazaine  and  the  French  soldiers 
in  the  New  World  would  be  looked  upon  as  a  violation 
of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  and  an  open  challenge  to  the 
United  States,  led  to  the  gradual  withdrawal  of  the 
one  prop  of  the  throne  of  Maximilian  and  Clericalism. 

Light  began  to  dawn  upon  Mexico. 

From  all  sides  the  Liberal  armies  drew  their  lines 
tighter  around  the  capital. 

In  vain  Maximilian  issued  the  infamous  Black  De- 
cree, condemning  to  death  all  Liberal  officers  and 
soldiers  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Imperial  armies. 
In  vain  his  Generals  enforced  it. 

Driven  at  last  to  take  refuge  in  Queretaro,  Maxi- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  99 

_,  ^'lMM.       ■■IllHIHIIIPIlin  I        ■■■■■» -.■■I— - ■■     II -I. ■     !—■■»■ -■■     ■■■■■  I  II    — — !       Ill     ■       I     >■■■■■■■  .1  ,    .!.■■■■■    .!■■» 

milian  and  his  Generals,  Mejia  and  Marquez,  with  the 
forlorn  hope  of  a  native  following,  and  the  Foreign 
Legion,  made  up  of  Austrians  and  Belgians,  for  a  few 
months  sustained  a  hopeless  siege. 

When  at  last  the  city  capitulated,  and  Juarez  had 
at  his  mercy  the  men  who  had  made  a  nightmare  of 
his  life  for  the  preceding  five  years,  and  cost  poor 
Mexico  her  brave  sons,  her  prosperity,  her  happiness, 
it  might  have  seemed  a  just  reprisal  for  Benito  Juarez 
to  have  fallen  back  upon  the  Black  Decree  for  which 
Maximilian  had  set  a  precedent. 

Instead,  the  Constitutional  President  of  Mexico 
accorded  his  fallen  foes  a  trial  by  due  process  of  law, 
allowed  them  the  counsel  of  the  ablest  lawyers  their 
Clerical  adherents  might  hire,  and  left  their  fate  to 
their  judges. 

Three  monuments  today  mark  the  spot  where 
were  executed  the  sometime  Emperor  of  Mexico,  Maxi- 
milian, and  his  two  Generals,  Miramon  and  Mejia,  on 
the  Hill  of  the  Bells  just  outside  of  Queretaro.  Scant 
retribution  indeed  for  the  awful  toll  they  had  taken 
from  Mexico. 

Seated  once  more  in  the  National  Palace  at  Mex- 
ico City,  Don  Benito  Juarez  had  ample  time  to  work 
out  the  Laws  of  Reform  to  which  he  had  dedicated  his 
life.  With  the  shrewd  statesmanship  he  had  exhibited 
ever  since  the  inchoation  of  his  career  as  a  national 
politician,  Juarez  chose  for  his  Cabinet  men  of  the 
broadest  and  most  utilitarian  views,  Don  Sebastian 
Lerdo  de  Tejada,  Minister  of  State,  Don  Jose  Maria 
Iglesias,  Minister  of  Home  Affairs,  Don  Ignacio  Mejia, 
Minister  of   war   and  marine,  Don  Ignacio  Marescal, 


100  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Minister  of  Justice,  Don  Matias  Romero,  Minister  of 
the  treasury  and  public  credit. 

Many  of  these  were  brother  Masons.  In  1867 
Don  Benito  Juarez  found  time  to  serve  as  Inspector 
General  of  the  Mexican  National  Rite. 

Associated  with  him  in  Masonry  were  many  of 
the  brave  Generals  who  had  long  sustained  the  cause 
of  Liberty,  Equality  and  Fraternity  against  the  or- 
ganized forces  of  Clericalism  and  Absolutism  in  Mex- 
ico. 

Upon  the  soldiers'  roll  of  honor,  you  will  find  to- 
day in  Mexico  City,  the  names  of  Generals  Escobedo, 
Corona,  Trevino,  Regules,  Porfirio  Diaz  and  Degollado. 

For  Mexico  and  Masonry  Don  Benito  Juarez  ac- 
complished more  than  any  other  native  son,  and  the 
Nation  wept  at  the  passing  in  1871  of  the  indomitable 
creator  of  the  Laws  of  Reform,  which  dealt  a  death- 
blow to  Clericalism  and  the  Sons  of  Loyola. 


CHAPTER  VI 

DON  FRANCISCO  MADERO,  JR. 

The  rapid  sequence  of  events  in  Mexico  following 
the  downfall  of  President  Porfirio  Diaz,  and  an  over- 
night injection  of  new  and  strange  personalities  into 
the  muddy  maelstrom  of  politics  across  the  Rio 
Grande,  cannot  but  confuse  one's  memory  of  historic 
facts  and  personalities  associated  with  the  inchoation 
of  the  greatest  of  Mexico's  many  revolutions. 

Only  recently  a  correspondent  writing  from  Mex- 
ico City,  referred  to  Mexico's  Masonic  Martyr,  as  "a 
little  epileptic  Indian  (Madero),  former  inmate  of  an 
insane  asylum." 

So  gross  an  historical  error,  deserves  correction 
in  justice  to  the  memory  of  one  of  Mexico's  greatest 
utilitarians. 

Several  generations  ago,  a  poor  Portuguese  gen- 
tleman came  to  the  state  of  Coahuila.  He  was  penni- 
less. It  was  his  fixed  determination  to  rehabilitate  his 
flagging  fortunes.  As  an  incentive  to  actual  accom- 
plishment, old  Everisto  Madero  had  the  personal  re- 
sponsibility of  providing  for  a  wife  and  eighteen  chil- 
dren. 

Some  family,  this  first  generation  of  the  Mexican 
Maderos. 

Evaristo's  initial  undertaking  was  the  establish- 
ment of  wagon  trains  for  commercial  freighting  be- 
tween the  larger  cities  of  Coahuila  and  Texas  towns 
along  the  Rio  Grande.  In  those  days  before  the  de- 
velopment of  railroads  in  Mexico,  such  an  enterprise 


102  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

could  not  but  be  profitable.    The  first  of  the  Maderos 
prospered  greatly. 

His  next  venture  was  in  cotton.  Soon  the  planta- 
tions and  cotton  mills  of  the  family  stretched  from 
Parras  to  the  Rio  Grande. 

Equally  timely  investments  in  rubber  plantations, 
fruitful  ranches,  oil,  the  establishment  of  private 
banks,  extensive  mining  operations,  and  stock  raising, 
laid  the  foundation  of  one  of  the  greatest  private  for- 
tunes in  Mexico. 

In  consequence,  in  the  early  eighties,  a  man  who 
had  come  to  Coahuila  with  nothing  but  his  rifle,  and 
good  judgment,  was  honored  by  election  to  the  gov- 
ernorship of  his  state. 

One  of  his  sons,  Francisco  Madero,  undertook  the 
personal  direction  of  the  old  millionaire's  many  com- 
mercial interests.  He  met  with  equal  success.  He 
too  had  a  large  family,  twelve  children  in  all. 

The  Madero  brothers  of  the  third  generation  were 
all  highly  educated  and  trained  for  the  great  responsi- 
bilities to  devolve  upon  them  in  the  management  of 
the  vast  family  fortune,  one  which  compared  favor- 
ably with  those  of  the  Terrazas,  Diaz',  Romeros,  and 
other  great  holdings  of  the  southern  Republic.  Soon 
a  great  business  corporation  known  as  Ernesto  Madero 
&  Brothers,  exerted  commercial  control  not  alone  in 
Coahuila,  but  in  many  neighboring  states. 

Of  the  Madero  brothers,  none  received  a  more 
careful  training  than  Francisco  Madero  Jr.,  who  after 
graduating  from  college  in  the  United  States,  con- 
tinued his  studies  in  Paris  and  abroad  until  the  time 
came  for  him  to  return  to  Mexico  and  enjoy  his  per- 
sonal fortune  of  over  $30,000,000  as  only  one  of  his 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  103 

exceptional  character,  sound  common  sense,  and  lib- 
eral culture  could. 

Madero,  happily  married  found  time  to  delve  deep 
into  that  gentle  philosophy  which  has  for  its  basic 
foundation  Brotherly  Love,  Relief  and  Truth,  which 
regards  the  internal  and  not  the  external  qualifica- 
tions of  a  man,  which  imposes  upon  each  of  its  dis- 
ciples the  stern  injunction,  "never  to  sit  down  con- 
tented while  fellow  creatures  around  us  are  in  want 
when  it  is  in  our  power  to  relieve  them,  without  in- 
convenience to  ourselves." 

Fully  realizing  the  pitiable  condition  of  the  Mex- 
ican masses,  beholding  the  government  practically 
owned  by  foreigners  through  the  concessions  granted 
the  Pearson  Syndicate  of  England,  the  commercial  in- 
terests of  Germany,  and  United  States  Standard  Oil, 
seeing  the  prolific  estates  of  the  country  in  the  hands 
of  a  few  selfish  and  unprogressive  families,  Madero 
pondered  deeply.  He  had  but  little  confidence  in  the 
aged  dictator  Porfirio  Diaz  who,  according  to  his  own 
light,  had  ruled  with  an  iron  hand  for  longer  time 
than  any  other  President  or  Dictator.  Presently 
Francisco  Madero  Jr.,  cast  down  his  gauntlet.  He  is- 
sued a  pronunciamiento  of  revolution.  To  the  Mexican 
people  and  their  freeing  from  peonage  he  dedicated 
his  own  private  fortune  of  thirty  million  dollars. 

Of  how  this  gently  reared,  college-bred,  man  spent 
succeeding  months  in  the  desert,  followed  by  a  ragged, 
devoted  army  of  the  common  people,  of  how  he  with- 
stood the  most  amazing  hardships  and  disappoint- 
ments, prior  to  reaching  the  Mexican  capitol  and  forc- 
ing the  abdication  of  Diaz,  of  how  for  six  months  he 
refused  to  take  supreme  control  of  Mexico  until  a  con- 


104  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

stitutional  election  by  the  people  should  establish  his 
right  to  become  the  first  gentleman  of  Mexico, — all 
this  has  become  history. 

Preston  S.  Krecker  in  his  "Personal  Side  of  Ma- 
dero" thus  describes  him: 

"My  first  meeting  with  the  late  President  Madero 
took  place  in  the  Presidencia  of  the  National  Palace. 
Standing  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of  Cabinet  officers  I 
saw  a  little,  swarthy  man  talking  and  gesticulating 
excitedly.  He  was  not  more  than  five  feet,  two  inches 
in  height.  He  had  a  rather  broad  forehead  and  his 
bright  eyes  were  set  well  apart.  His  black,  pointed 
beard  was  carefully  trimmed.  His  cutaway  coat  was 
in  marked  contrast  with  the  more  formal  frock  coats 
of  his  dignified  councilors. 

"Ernesto  Madero,  Minister  of  Finance,  presented 
me. 

"  'Ah,  I  am  glad  to  know  you/  exclaimed  the  little 
man  in  excellent  English,  smiling,  'Look/  he  cried 
triumphantly,  showing  me  a  letter,  'all  the  New  York 
papers  are  my  friends.    They  want  me  to  succeed.' 

"Although  I  met  the  little  man  of  Chapultepec 
quite  frequently  after  that  occasion  I  never  saw  him 
appear  depressed  or  worried.  Even  when  his  situation 
looked  the  blackest,  he  never  wavered.  He  was  con- 
stitutionally optimistic  and  courageous.  He  had  the 
happy  gift  of  inspiring  those  around  him  with  his 
own  spirit.  The  supreme  confidence  of  Madero  was 
not  that  of  a  Dictator  who  relied  on  brute  force  of 
arms.  It  was  the  confidence  of  a  man  who  had  faith 
in  himself  and  in  the  equity  of  his  policies,  and  who 
felt  that  the  great  silent  masses  were  supporting  him. 
He  was  a  new  type  of  Latin-American  in  politics.   He 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  105 

was  not  a  political  buccaneer.  There  was  no  yellow 
streak  in  him.  He  felt  that  he  had  a  mission  to  per- 
form,— the  mission  of  lifting  the  masses  of  Mexico 
from  poverty,  ignorance  and  superstition  in  which 
they  were  submerged.  He  died  a  martyr  to  an  idea, 
possibly  for  Mexico  a  chimera  *  *  *  government  by 
the  people.  Government  by  constitutional  methods  as 
contrasted  by  government  by  a  predatory  oligarchy 
was  Madero's  political  creed.  He  was  the  first  man 
elected  President  by  constitutional  methods,  the  first 
to  attempt  to  govern  by  the  same  methods.  Madero 
hated  bloodshed.  Humanity  with  him  was  a  cardinal 
virtue.  It  also  was  his  weakness  as  ruler  of  a  people 
who  understand  only  the  iron  hand.  He  alone  of  Mex- 
ico's Executives  would  not  resort  to  the  old  barbarous 
"ley  de  fuega"  to  get  rid  of  his  political  enemies." 

A  high  mason,  Francisco  Madero  Jr.,  appreciated 
the  machiavellian  activities  of  the  Clerical  party  of 
Mexico.  Right  bravely  he  answered  the  signs  and 
summons  of  the  craft  and  accepted  the  gage  of  battle 
offered  by  the  sworn  enemies  of  Freemasonry.  Ma- 
dero was  convinced  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
was  wholly  responsible  for  the  dense  ignorance  and 
childish  superstition  pregnant  among  the  Mexican 
masses.  He  knew  from  previous  precedents  that  the 
light  of  Republicanism,  could  never  shine  upon  poor 
Mexico  while  dominated  to  the  slightest  degree  by 
those  taking  orders  from  the  overseas  Vatican. 

The  aged  Mason,  Porfirio  Diaz,  no  longer  ruled 
with  the  iron  hand  within  the  velvet  glove.  His  fail- 
ing health  and  physical  infirmity  had  rendered  him 
more  easily  susceptible  to  the  suborned  agents  of  Po- 
litico-Clericalism infesting  the  Mexican  capital. 


106  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Madero  realized  forcibly  that  the  old  order  must 
go,  that  Church  and  State  must  be  forever  separated 
if  Mexico  was  to  take  her  place  among  the  enlightened 
nations  of  the  world.  Like  Napoleon  the  First,  as  en- 
thusiastic a  Mason  as  himself,  Madero  believed  that 
the  priest  has  no  place  in  politics. 

In  his  early  days  at  Coahuila  young  Madero  had 
had  a  hand  in  the  game  of  politics  to  his  cost.  He 
espoused  the  cause  of  a  scholarly  old  gentleman  of 
Cuatro  Cienegas  who  had  had  the  temerity  to  become 
a  candidate  for  Governor  of  the  State,  Don  Venustiano 
Carranza.  Following  a  farcical  election  these  two  saw 
the  votes  of  their  adherents  cast  aside  uncounted  and 
the  candidate  of  the  Politico-Clerical  Party  inducted 
into  office. 

Then  might  be  said  to  have  commenced  the  revo- 
lution which  has  cost  Mexico  much  in  lives,  and  ma- 
terial welfare,  and  shown  no  sign  of  any  abatement 
until  the  recent  triumph  of  the  Carranza  arms. 

Madero  sacrificed  family,  fortune  and  personal 
comfort  for  the  people  and  country  he  dearly  loved. 
Had  he  been  spared,  Mexico  today  would  have  been 
fifty  years  ahead  instead  of  one  hundred  years  behind 
civilization. 

The  murder  of  Francisco  Madero  Jr.,  and  his  Vice 
President  Pino  Suarez  took  place  in  the  National  Pal- 
ace on  the  last  Saturday  in  February,  following  the 
brutal  murder  of  his  brother  Gustavo  Madero,  with 
whom  the  perfidious  Huerta  had  been  dining  tete  a 
tete  just  a  few  moments  before  playing  Judas  and 
sending  his  guest  to  execution. 

Few  incidents  in  history  have  more  pathos  than 
the  last  hours  of  President  Madero.     Until  the  very 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  107 

last,  he  had  that  supreme  confidence  in  the  people, 
that  unarmed  and  unattended,  he  daily  rode  through 
the  street  of  his  capital,  a  pathetic  little  figure  on  his 
great  white  horse. 

He  implicitly  trusted  his  two  Generals  Huerta  and 
Blanquet.  He  could  not  bring  himself  to  believe  the 
news  that  they  had  betrayed  him. 

Awaiting  with  his  family  in  the  railroad  station, 
permission  to  go  into  the  same  exile  he  had  graciously 
accorded  his  fallen  rival  Don  Porfirio  Diaz,  he  was 
torn  away  by  Huerta's  soldiers  to  be  taken  to  that 
place  of  dark  secrets,  the  National  Palace,  where  with 
poor  Pino  Suarez,  sometime  in  the  hours  preceding 
midnight,  their  two  helpless  bodies  were  riddled  by 
the  bullets  of  the  men  they  had  raised  to  power. 

0  temporal  0  mores!  Even  that  campaign-hard- 
ened conspirator,  General  Felix  Diaz,  could  no  longer 
countenance  companionship  with  things  like  Huerta, 
Blanquet,  and  their  coterie  of  old-time  Mexicans  but 
fled  in  disgust  to  the  cleaner  atmosphere  and  associa- 
tions of  our  United  States,  leaving  poor  Mexico  to  the 
temporary  ministrations  of  offal  of  humanity. 


CHAPTER  VII 

DON  VENUSTIANO  CARRANZA 

The  Constitutional  President  of  Mexico  is  of  a 
higher  type  intellectually  than  many  of  those  who  as- 
pired to  the  exalted  position  after  the  overthrow  of 
Madero. 

Don  Venustiano  Carranza  offers  an  interesting 
study  to  the  historical  psychologist. 

This  educated  old  gentleman  for  many  years  has 
been  a  profound  student  of  men  and  events.  His  polit- 
ical training  was  acquired  in  the  trying  school  of  prac- 
tical experience.  His  is  the  judicial  mind,  calm,  un- 
excitable,  coldly  intellectual.  He  presents  few  char- 
acteristics commonly  associated  with  our  established 
concepts  of  the  Latin  American  temperament. 

When  the  news  was  brought  to  Carranza,  that 
American  Marines  had  taken  possession  of  Vera  Cruz, 
during  the  stormy  days  of  the  Huerta  regime,  he  was 
undoubtedly  the  least  perturbed  of  any  of  the  Mex- 
icans grouped  in  his  suite. 

Carranza  clearly  recognized  the  fact  that  history 
was  but  repeating  itself.  He  knew  that  Huerta  and 
his  Clerical  advisers  had  again  resorted  to  the  Machia- 
vellian trick  first  played  upon  the  Mexican  people  by 
the  Church  Party  in  1847,  when  they  precipitated 
American  Intervention:  and  again  in  the  sixties,  when 
they  connived  at  the  French  Occupation  rather  than 
see  Benito  Juarez  supreme,  Master  of  Mexico  City. 

Don  Venustiano  Carranza  is  fifty-five  years  of  age. 
In  his  native  state  of  Coahuila,  he  has  played  a  most 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  109 

conspicuous  role.  Of  the  people  born,  he  is  a  product 
of  the  Public  Schools.  His  professional  training  he 
received  in  Mexico  City.  He  has  always  been  a  Lib- 
eral of  the  Liberals,  a  Patriot  of  Patriots,  a  Mexican 
of  the  Mexicans. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-four,  Carranza  defied  Diaz 
and  his  "Ring." 

He  it  was  who  inaugurated  a  revolt  against  Gov- 
ernor Galan  the  puppet  of  the  Dictator,  carrying  it  to 
a  successful  termination. 

After  attaining  high  standing  as  a  man  of  the 
law  in  Coahuila,  Carranza  turned  politician.  His  first 
essay  in  this  field  was  as  state  representative  in  the 
Legislature  of  Coahuila. 

For  some  years  he  had  been  the  close  friend  of 
Francisco  I.  Madero.  After  that  young  Idealist  at- 
tained his  great  ambition,  and  was  elected  Constitu- 
tional President  of  Mexico,  Governor  Carranza  dis- 
patched from  Coahuila,  a  battalion  of  expert  riflemen 
to  serve  their  State's  most  distinguished  son,  as  a  per- 
sonal bodyguard.  These  gallant  volunteers  were  the 
very  first  victims  of  the  treacherous  Huerta.  While 
still  commanding  the  Madero  forces,  Don  Victoriano 
commanded  the  men  of  Coahuila  to  charge  the  Citadel. 
He  knew  full  well  that  it  was  defended  by  the  machine 
guns  of  General  Felix  Diaz,  that  should  they  comply 
with  his  orders,  they  would  be  ruthlessly  shot  down 
to  a  man. 

It  was  by  such  ruthless  tactics  that  Huerta  pre- 
cipitated a  wholesale  slaughter  of  the  friends  of  Ma- 
dero. Only  so  could  he  compass  his  own  eventual  ele- 
vation to  power. 

After  the  downfall  of  his  friend,  Carranza  was 


110  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

the  only  one  of  the  twenty-seven  Governors  of  States 
in  Mexico,  who  had  the  moral  temerity  to  send  his 
grito  of  defiance  to  the  assassins  of  the  Maderos. 

On  February  19th,  1913,  Carranza  sent  his  de- 
cree to  the  Congress  of  his  State.  It  openly  disavowed 
Huerta  and  his  associates  in  crime.  Its  endorsement 
was  prompt  and  unanimous.  It  was  timed  simul- 
taneously with  the  arrival  of  the  information  that  Ma- 
dero  and  Suarez  had  been  done  to  the  death. 

It  became  patent  to  Generals  Huerta  and  Felix 
Diaz  that  they  were  not  dealing  with  any  ordinary 
revolutionist  in  Carranza.  They  were  quick  to  make 
him  overtures.  They  offered  him  the  most  alluring 
terms  and  concessions.  Their  envoy  was  authorized 
to  "arrange  matters  on  the  spot." 

Carlos  de  Fornaro,  one  of  his  biographers  gives 
as  his  response: 
"Messrs.  Huerta  y  Felix  Diaz: 

"My  only  answer  to  the  despicable  proposals  of- 
fered to  me  in  your  letter  dated  February  27th,  is  that 
I  want  to  inform  you  that  men  like  myself  do  not  be- 
tray, do  not  sell  themselves:  that  is  your  function, 
you,  who  have  no  other  objects  in  life,  than  the  shame- 
ful satisfaction  of  ignoble  ambitions. 

"Raise  the  black  flag  of  your  tyranny,  and  over 
the  country  the  voice  shouts,  Treason  and  Death.' 

"On  my  part,  with  the  help  of  the  Mexican  peo- 
ple, I  shall  lift  from  the  mud,  into  which  you  have 
thrown  it,  the  flag  of  my  country.  Should  I  fall  de- 
fending it,  I  shall  have  obtained  for  my  small  action 
in  life,  the  greatest  prize  which  we  honest  men  can 
aspire  to. 

(Signed)  "VENUSTIANO  CARRANZA. 


» 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  111 

The  ink  was  scarcely  dry  upon  this  document, 
than  Carranza  made  public  his  Plan  of  Guadalupe,  pro- 
claiming himself  First  Chief  of  the  Constitutionalist 
Army.  He  knew  quite  well  the  serious  undertaking 
upon  which  his  love  for  Mexico  was  leading  him  to 
embark.  Just  before  leaving  his  State  Capitol  he  re- 
marked : 

"WE  ARE  GOING  TO  FIGHT  THE  THREE 
YEARS  WAR  OVER  AGAIN." 

Even  so  it  has  proved  in  the  passing  of  time. 

Today  Carrj  .ids  like  his  greater  predeces- 

sor, Juarez,  opp  the  same  formidable  influences 

that  were  arra?  with  illimitable  resources  against 
the  Liberals  of  ±857 — in  plain  English,  the  Clergy  of 
the  Roman  Hierarchy,  backed  by  innumerable  privi- 
leged landowners,  and  the  Foreign  Interests,  who 
foresee  for  themselves  only  blackest  ruin,  in  a  free 
and  enlightened  Mexico. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  the  father  of  Don 
Venustiano,  fought  as  a  Colonel  in  the  Great  Liberal 
Movement  of  '57,  under  Juarez. 

Carranza  took  the  field  to  meet  defeat  at  Anhelo. 

* 

Undiscouraged  he  pressed  on,  rallied  his  forces, 
and  with  a  long  succession  of  defeats  and  victories, 
began  at  last  the  arduous  march  through  the  States 
of  Durango,  Sonora  and  Chihuahua,  pursued  closely 
by  the  minions  of  Huerta  who  had  placed  a  price  of 
$150,000  upon  his  head. 

Eventually  he  occupied  Hermosilla,  Sonora  and 
rallied  to  his  arms  three  formidable  armies.  These 
operated  under  Generals  Obregon,  Villa  and  Gonzales. 
As  personal  advisers  he  had  Zubaran,  Capmany,  Escu- 
dero,  Villareal  and  Angeles,  all  ardent  Liberals. 


112  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Of  the  successive  Constitutionalist  victories  along 
the  border,  culminating  in  the  capture  of  Juarez,  of 
the  ultimate  investment  of  Chihuahua,  Torreon,  Saltil- 
lo,  Monterey,  Tampico,  Tepotzotlan, — of  the  complete 
reorganization  of  the  State  Governments — the  final 
occupation  of  Mexico  City — the  crowning  treachery  of 
Francisco  Villa,  culminating  in  his  frenzied  raid  upon 
Columbus,  New  Mexico,  so  precipitating  American  in- 
tervention,— contemporary  history  has  told. 

By  the  recent  invasion  of  Mexico  by  General 
Pershing,  Carranza  was  put  to  the  supreme  test.  He 
was  not  found  wanting.  His  attitude  offers  much  hope 
for  the  future  of  Mexico  under  his  regime. 

A  little  later  he  proved  himself  too  shrewd  a 
diplomat  to  take  seriously,  the  fatuous  proposition 
from  Herr  Zimmerman  of  Berlin:  he  was  not  to  be 
bribed  by  the  luring  offer  of  Wilhelmstrasse  that  for 
his  treacherous  alignment  against  his  benefactors  he 
might  have  in  exchange  such  prizes  as  Texas,  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona,  three  precious  stars  in  the  glori- 
ous firmament  of  the  United  States. 

Unfortunately  for  Wilhelmstrasse,  Carranza 
knows  his  American  history,  appreciates  the  illimit- 
able resources  of  his  northern  neighbor,  knows  full 
well  that  alliance  with  Germany  spells  inevitable  Ruin 
for  Mexico. 

It  does  seem  unfortunate  that  President  Wilson 
was  compelled  to  dispatch  an  expeditionary  force  to 
Colonia  Dublan.  Undoubtedly  the  Administration 
knew  much  not  made  known  to  the  public.  Perhaps 
some  inkling  of  the  German  Intrigues  was  already  in 
evidence  at  Washington,  whereby  our  demonstration 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  113 

in  force  south  of  the  Rio  Grande  became  a  coup  a" 
etat.    Quien  sabe? 

In  all  his  replies  to  President  Wilson's  notes,  Car- 
ranza  has  been  studiously  polite  and  free  from  any 
wish  to  play  his  own  galleries,  a  common  failing  with 
the  average  Mexican.  Nor  must  his  attitude  be  at- 
tributed to  fear  of  the  Colossus  of  the  North.  The 
de  facto  Government,  has  at  hand  a  force  of  trained 
veterans,  officered  by  experienced  Generals,  a  com- 
bination capable  of  offering  us  even  greater  resistance 
than  in  '47. 

Carranza's  diplomacy  is  undoubtedly  influenced 
by  a  fixed  wish  of  giving  no  cause  for  American  In- 
tervention. Undoubtedly  he  has  long  ago  visualized 
the  hand  of  the  Roman  Hierarchy  trying  to  force  our 
Administration  to  pull  the  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire 
for  the  Italian  monkey.  This  for  Mexico  could  only 
mean  utter  annihilation,  and  a  resumption  of  intoler- 
able inquisitorial  rule,  to  forfend  which  Carranza  and 
his  Generals,  Obregon,  Gonzales,  Trevino  and  Angeles 
have  been  fighting  many,  many  months. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MASONIC  LIGHT  UPON  MEXICO 

(Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Editor  of  The  Builder  I  have 
been  privileged  to  peruse  advance  sheets  of  "Mexican  Masonry, 
Another  Side,"  written  for  the  October  issue  of  the  magazine. 
I  am  sorely  tempted  to  plain  speaking.  Realizing  fully  our 
Masonic  Doctrine  of  Tolerance,  I  shall  stress  the  fact  that  any 
allusions  herein  made  apply  strictly  to  Catholicism  in  Mexico, 
and  I  shall  support  my  arraignment  by  references  easily  ob- 
tainable to  those  seeking  More  Masonic  Light  Upon  Mexico.) 

In  1494  Pope  Alexander  VI  divided  the  undis- 
covered regions  of  the  earth  by  an  imaginary  line  of 
longtitude  running  through  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from 
pole  to  pole,  three  hundred  and  seventy  miles  west  of 
the  Azores.  He  gave  the  Portuguese  unlimited  sway 
over  all  the  countries  that  they  might  discover  to  the 
east  of  that  line,  and  pledged  himself  to  confirm  to 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain,  the  right  to  every 
isle,  continent  and  sea  where  they  should  plant  the 
flag  on  the  western  hemisphere. — (Mexico  and  the 
United  States,  by  G.  D.  Abbot.    Putnam.) 

The  Catholic  Conquistador  Hernan  Cortez  and  his 
little  band  of  mailclad  men  brought  only  the  sword  and 
the  cross  to  the  New  World.  They  took  freely  of  the 
Emperor  Montezuma's  gold,  enjoyed  his  hospitality, 
and  in  return  began  "a  holy  war"  ruthlessly  destroy- 
ing the  monuments,  history,  literature  and  records  of 
a  splendid  Aztec  civilization  quite  equal  to  that  of  the 
effete  Spain  from  which  they  had  come. 

A  Jesuit  historian,  Abbe  F.  S.  Clavigero,  in  his 
History  of  Mexico,  says:  "The  Spaniards  in  one  year 
of  Merciless  massacre  sacrificed  more  human  victims 
to  avarice  and  ambition,  than  the  Indians  during  the 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  115 


existence  of  their  empire  devoted  in  chaste  worship  to 
their  native  gods." 

A  more  recent  authority,  L.  Gutierrez  de  Lara,  in 
his  "The  Mexican  People:  Their  Struggle  For  Free- 
dom/' says: — 

"In  Mexico  on  the  other  hand,  the  invading:  Spaniards 
found  not  barbarism,  but  a  feudal  civilization,  private  owner- 
ship of  land  in  place  of  communal  ownership,  and  serfdom  in 
place  of  nomadic  liberty.  With  fire  and  sword  they  laid  waste 
a  civilization  in  many  respects  superior  to  their  own:  and  the 
fighting  elements  among:  the  natives,  once  subjugated  or  ex- 
terminated, the  serfs  fell  perforce  into  the  most  abject  servi- 
tude of  their  new  masters.  *  *  *  Spain  brought  to  Mexico  an 
arrested  civilization  and  a  fanatic  Romanism  embittered  and 
perverted  by  the  fierce  conflict  with  Islam.  The  Holy  Inquisi- 
tion set  its  bloody  fangs  in  the  heart  of  the  people:  persecu- 
tion, fire  and  torment  quenched  all  liberty  of  conscience  and 
the  soul  of  Mexico  lay  degraded  and  shackled  as  even  her  body. 
The  ignorant  priests  went  so  far  in  their  hatred  of  all  enlight- 
enment, that  emanated  from  any  other  source  than  the  Vatican, 
that  they  burned  to  ashes  the  invaluable  library  in  the  Imperial 
Palace  of  the  Aztecs,  destroying  at  a  blow  the  records  of  the 
culture  beyond  their  comprehension." 

The  Pope's  proclamation  in  1494  set  the  prece- 
dent for  the  later  policy  of  the  Vatican  to  "Cathol- 
icize" the  world,  was  the  forerunner  of  the  latter  day 
slogan  of  the  Cardinals,  "We  shall  make  America 
Catholic."  Witness  the  Council  of  Trent  convened  by 
Pope  Paul  II  in  1545  legislating  "a  body  of  canons  that 
were  to  subject  all  mankind  for  all  ages  to  the  will  of 
one  man  in  the  papal  chair." 

The  Conquest  successful,  Spanish  civilization  fas- 
tened a  firm  hold  upon  Mexico.  To  quote  from  Wil- 
son's Mexico: — "Many  of  these  wretched  people  were 
formally  reduced  to  the  condition  of  absolute  slavery, 
and  some  were  even  branded  as  such  with  the  owner's 
initial  by  a  red-hot  iron,  women  as  well  as  men,  while 


116  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

the  middle  class,  the  real  backbone  of  the  nation,  per- 
ished from  the  land." 

Now  quoting  from  my  own  article,  "Mexican  Ma- 
sonry," published  in  "Light"  of  June  15,  1916: 

"At  the  inchoation  of  the  nineteenth  century  Mexico 
seemed  hopelessly  enslaved  under  the  harsh  rule  of  Roman  ec- 
clesiasticism  expressing  itself  through  the  puppet  personalities 
of  Spanish  Viceroys,  representatives  of  a  king  and  cortes  ut- 
terly subservient  to  the  Pope  of  Rome.  For  three  hundred 
years  this  sad  condition  had  persisted  in  Mexico.  In  conse- 
quence the  clergy  were  stupendously  rich,  and  seemingly  forti- 
fied in  an  impregnable  position.  What  was  left  of  the  natural 
resources  of  the  country  after  supplying  the  priests  and  mothei 
country  went  to  the  enrichment  of  the  Viceroy  and  the  Spanish 
satellites  making  up  his  court.  For  the  native-born  was  abject 
misery,  slavery,  dire  poverty.  Through  the  country  the  dread 
Inquisition  flourished  and  held  sway.  Its  wretched  victims 
filled  to  overflowing  the  great  military  prisons  like  San  Juan 
de  Uloa  with  their  disease-disseminating,  vermin-infested,  dark 
dungeons,  veritable  hellholes.  So  unutterably  cruel  were  the 
penalties  attached  by  the  Inquisitors  to  failure  to  pay  the 
clerical  tithes,  or  any  utterance  against  the  existing  order,  a 
breath  of  what  they  might  consider  heresy,  that  wonder  is  the 
SYSTEM  held  sway  as  long  as  it  did.  However  much  the 
native-born  contributed  to  their  taskmasters,  it  was  never 
enough.  Overseas,  decadent  Spain  was  in  dire  straits:  Upon 
the  Viceroys  it  devolved  to  pay  the  upkeep  of  the  Court  of  the 
Bourbons,  to  meet  the  endless  demands  of  the  CLERICAL 
OCTOPUS  fattening  upon  both  countries." 

A  Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  Las  Casas,  protested 
strenuously  against  the  Spanish  cruelties  crossing  the 
Atlantic  twice  to  show  convincing  evidence  that  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  policy  inaugurated  by  Cortez  could 
only  result  in  utter  extermination  of  the  Aztecs  as  a 
race  and  nation. 

Let  us  now  take  more  testimony  from  a  Catholic 
Authority.  Let  a  French  Abbe,  the  Catholic  Chap- 
lain of  Napoleon's  Expeditionary  Force  to  Mexico, 
speak  to  you  from  his  book,  "Mexico  as  It  Is,"  pub- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  117 

--  —  —  —--■■■■ ■■»     ■■  ■■  '  '  —      ■    ■■.—  ■         ■■hi.  ^— m> ■— ^ ■— — — ^ 

lished   in   Paris   in   1867.     Says   this   very  reverend 
father,  Abbe  Emanuel  Domenech: 

"Mexican  faith  is  dead.  The  abuse  of  external  ceremonies, 
the  facility  of  reconciling  the  devil  with  God,  the  absence  of  in- 
ternal exercises  of  piety,  have  killed  the  faith  in  Mexico.  It  is 
in  vain  to  seek  good  fruit  from  the  worthless  tree  which  makes 
Mexican  religion  a  singular  assemblage  of  heartless  devotion, 
shameful  ignorance,  insane  superstition,  and  hideous  vice.  *  *  * 
The  idolatrous  character  of  Mexican  Catholicism  is  a  fact  well 
known  to  all  travelers.  The  worship  of  saints  and  madonnas 
so  absorbs  the  devotion  of  the  people,  that  little  time  is  left  to 
think  about  God.  *  *  *  If  the  Pope  should  abolish  all  simoniacal 
livings,  and  excommunicate  all  the  priests  having  concubines, 
the  Mexican  clergy  would  be  reduced  to  a  very  small  affair. 
Nevertheless  there  are  some  worthy  men  among  them,  whose 
conduct  as  priests  is  irreproachable.  In  all  Spanish  America 
there  are  found  among  the  priests  the  veriest  wretches,  knaves 
deserving  the  gallows,  men  who  make  infamous  traffic  of  re- 
ligion. Mexico  has  her  share  of  these  wretches.  Whose  fault 
is  it?  In  the  past  it  has  been  Spanish  manners  *  *  *  climate. 
In  the  present  it  is  the  episcopate.  *  *  *  Priests  who  are  recog- 
nized as  fathers  of  families  are  by  no  means  rare.  The  people 
consider  it  natural  enough  and  do  not  rail  at  the  conduct  of 
their  pastors  excepting  when  they  are  not  contented  with  one 
wife.  They  make  merchandise  of  the  sacraments,  and  make 
money  by  every  religious  ceremony,  without  thinking  that  they 
are  guilty  of  simony,  and  expose  themselves  to  the  censure  of 
the  Church.  If  Roman  justice  had  its  course  in  Mexico,  one- 
half  of  the  Mexican  Clergy  would  be  excommunicated.  *  *  * 
The  well-instructed  priests,  disinterested  and  animated  by  a 
truly  apostolical  spirit,  holy  souls  whose  religious  sentiments 
are  of  good  character  constitute  an  insignificant  minority.  *  *  * 
One  of  the  greatest  evils  in  Mexico  is  the  exorbitant  fee  for 
the  marriage  ceremony.  The  priests  compel  the  poor  to  live 
without  marriage,  by  demanding  for  the  nuptial  benediction  a 
sum  that  a  Mexican  mechanic,  with  his  slender  wage,  can 
scarcely  accumulate  in  fifty  years  of  the  strictest  economy. 
This  is  no  exaggeration.  The  consequences  of  the  excessive 
demands  for  prequisites  in  general  are  as  lamentable  to  public 
morality  as  to  religion." 

It  was  just  such  esoteric  knowledge  of  the  evils 
of  his  brother  clergymen  that  led  Miguel  de  Hidalgo, 
a  Mexican  priest,  to  foreswear  his  vows  and  seek  MA- 
SONIC LIGHT  in  Mexico  City  in  1806.  From  the 
time  he  sounded  the  slogan  of  revolution  against  ther 


118  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

puppet  Viceroys  of  Rome  and  Spain,  to  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  Juarez,  the  enforcement  of  the  Laws  of 
Reform,  through  the  successive  revolutions  of  Ma- 
dero,  and  Carranza,  the  fight  has  been  for  the  one 
great  principle  of  compelling  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State. 

If,  as  it  is  claimed,  "The  Church  in  Mexico  was 
stripped  and  had  the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  wit- 
nessing the  chagrin  and  rage  of  the  strippers  because 
the  booty  was  so  much  below  their  calculations," 
WHY  NOT? 

Nearly  naked  and  poverty-stricken  came  the 
priests  to  Mexico  to  kill  and  plunder  the  poor  natives 
and  amass  fabulous  wealth  during  the  three  hundred 
years  of  their  undisputed  sway.  When  the  worn  turns 
at  last,  to  drive  them  from  their  piratical  strongholds, 
to  give  back  to  the  State  that  which  the  Church  took 
by  right  of  might  and  the  Inquisition,  is  it  other  than 
the  enforcement  of  a  good  law  "Naked  ye  came  and 
naked  ye  go"? 

Again  a  writer  says: — "Latin  American  Mason- 
ry is  atheistic,  revolutionary  and  contentious,  and  in 
Mexico  it  has  become  anarchistic  and  murderous.', 

I  do  not  agree  with  this  assertion  at  all.  Only 
in  one  of  the  twenty-seven  states  of  Mexico  was  the 
Great  Light  absent  from  the  altar  and  this  I  believe 
in  Monterey,  during  the  mastership  of  General  Reyes. 
In  regard  to  a  statement  concerning  Bro.  Castellot,  I 
again  quote  from  the  "New  Age,"  the  official  organ  of 
the  Scottish  Rite,  Southern  Jurisdiction,  of  January, 
1915 : — "Scottish  Rite  Masonry  in  Mexico  is  under  the 
leadership  of  Dr.  Joseph  G.  Castellot,  formerly  Presi- 
dent of  the  Mexican  Senate." 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  119 

Permit  me  now  briefly  to  epitomize  from  my  arti- 
cle, Mexican  Masonry,  already  referred  to: 

"Our  first  authentic  Masonic  record  in  Mexico  may  be 
traced  back  to  a  little  house  in  Mexico  City,  Calle  de  las  Ratas 
No.  4,  where  as  early  as  1806  the  Masonic  Lodge  then  known 
as  "Arquitectura  Moral"  held  regular  meetings.  *  *  *  Although 
the  SYSTEM  crushed  the  Moral  Architect  Lodge  not  at  all 
did  they  preclude  the  spread  of  Masonry.  In  1813  was  estab- 
lished the  first  Grand  Lodge  under  the  Scottish  Rite,  having 
for  its  Grand  Master  Don  Felipe  Martinez  Aragon.  A  number 
of  subordinate  lodges  sprang  up  through  the  country.  In  1816- 
1817  there  were  working  under  charter  from  the  Grand  Lodge 
of  Louisiana  these  lodges,  "Friends  United  No.  8,"  and  "Re- 
union By  Virtue  No.  9."  In  1824  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Penn- 
sylvania gave  charter  to  a  lodge  working  as  "True  Brothers 
of  Papaloapam  No.  191."  *  *  *  Factional  fights  and  internecine 
strife  were  but  natural  in  an  order  embracing  men  of  the  fer- 
vent, effervescent  disposition  of  the  native  Mexicans.  The  time 
seemed  ripe  for  a  schism.  It  so  happened  that  the  American 
Minister  to  Mexico,  Mr.  M.  Poinsett,  was  one  of  the  high 
authorities  of  York  Rite  Masonry  in  his  native  land.  For 
many  symbolic  lodges  who  petitioned  him,  Bro.  Poinsett  se- 
cured a  Charter  under  the  York  Rite  of  the  United  States 
through  the  Grand  Lodge  of  New  York.  In  1828  there  were 
as  many  as  102  York  Rite  lodges  in  Mexico  working  under  this 
Charter.  Out  of  the  jealousies  of  the  two  active  Rites,  Scot- 
tish and  York,  emerged  still  a  third,  the  Mexican  National 
Rite,  composed  of  York  and  Scottish  Rite  Masons.  *  *  *  Al- 
though the  York  and  Scottish  Rites  had  taken  a  considerable 
part  in  the  shaping  of  the  Republic's  welfare,  it  remained  for 
the  youngest  of  Mastnry's  Mexican  daughters  to  openly  formu- 
late a  definite  platform.  In  1833  the  Mexican  National  Rite 
set  forth  its  policy  as  follows: 

"  'Absolute  Freedom  of  Thought,  Freedom  of  the  Press, 
Abolishment  of  the  Fueros  (Privileges)  of  the  Clergy  and  of 
the  Army,  Suppression  of  Monastic  Institutions,  Destruction 
of  Monopolies,  Protection  of  Arts  and  Industries,  Dissemina- 
tion of  Libraries  and  Schools,  the  Abolishment  of  Capital 
Punishment,  and  Colonial  Expansion/  " 

All  of  these  high  principles  and  others  were  em- 
bodied in  the  Laws  of  Reform  enacted  and  put  into 
the  Mexican  Constitution  by  the  greatest  of  the  Ma- 
sons  of   the   Mexican   National  Rite,  Brother  Benito 


120  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Juarez.    They  are  the  same  principles  for  which  First 
Chief  Carranza  is  fighting  today. 

Some  authorities  assert:— "The  Laws  of  Reform 
were  not  aimed  at  securing  freedom  of  worship,  but 
at  the  spoliation  of  the  Catholic  Church." 

Even  were  the  statement  just,  and  I  cannot  for 
one  moment  admit  that  it  is,  may  we  not  answer  that 
when  the  Mexican  State  says  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  "Take  that  thine  is,  and  go  thy  way,"  is  it 
the  fault  of  the  State  that  "Naked  they  came  and 
Naked  they  go"  ?  On  the  contrary,  "We  are  satisfied : 
that  is  a  GOOD  LAW." 

Naturally  the  Laws  of  Juarez  did  not  at  all  ap- 
peal to  the  Vatican  as  you  may  see  from  reading  a 
summary  of  their  intent.    They  were: 

1.  Laws  establishing  liberty  for  all  opinion,  liberty  of 
the  press,  and  liberty  of  faith  and  worship. 

2.  Laws  granting  to  the  members  of  all  denominations 
the  right  of  establishing  schools  and  colleges. 

3.  Laws  permitting  the  intermarriage  on  terms  of  re- 
ligious equality  of  Catholics  and  Protestants. 

4.  Laws  permitting  civil  marriage. 

5.  Laws  permitting  the  burial  of  Protestants  in  Romish 
lands  where  Protestants  have  no  cemetery  of  their  own  in 
which  to  bury. 

6.  Laws  establishing  public  schools  for  secular  education 
that  shall  be  free  from  the  control  of  the  Romish  priesthood. 

Said  the  Pope  (Pius  IX)  in  condemning  them, 
"They  are  contrary  to  the  doctrines,  rights  and  au- 
thority of  the  Catholic  religion.  Let  it  be  understood 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  declares  such  laws 
as  these,  wherever  they  may  be  enacted,  to  be  null 
and  void."  (See  "Christian  World,"  Vol.  XIX,  pp. 
312-314.) 

Now  to  consider  that  portion  of  the  Laws  of  Re- 
form   appertaining    directly    to    the  Roman  Catholic 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  121 

Church.  William  Butler,  D.  D.,  summarizes  them  in 
his  "Mexico  In  Transition,"  published  by  Hunt  & 
Eaton,  New  York,  1893 : 

"The  complete  separation  of  Church  and  State. 

"Congress  cannot  pass  laws  establishing  or  prohibiting  anv 
religion. 

"The  free  exercise  of  religious  services.  The  State  will 
not  give  any  official  recognition  to  any  religious  festivals  save 
the  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  rest. 

"Religious  services  are  to  be  held  only  within  the  place  of 
worship. 

"Clerical  vestments  are  forbidden  in  the  streets. 

"Religious  processions   are   forbidden. 

"The  use  of  church-bells  is  restricted  to  calling  the  people 
to  religious  work. 

"Pulpit  discourses  advising  disobedience  to  the  law,  or  in- 
jury to  anyone  are  strictly  forbidden.  Worship  in  churches 
shall  be  public  only. 

"Gifts  of  real  estate  to  religious  institutions  are  unlawful, 
with  the  sole  exception  of  edifices  designed  exclusively  to  the 
purpose  of  the  institution. 

"The  State  does  not  recognize  monastic  orders  nor  permit 
their  establishment. 

"The  association  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  is  suppressed  in 
the  Republic,  and  the  Jesuits  are  expelled  and  may  not  return. 

"Matrimony  is  a  civil  contract  and  to  be  duly  registered. 
The  religious  service  may  be  added. 

"Cemeteries  are  under  civil  inspection  and  open  for  the 
burial  of  all  classes  and  creeds. 

"No  one  can  sign  away  their  liberty  by  contract  or  re- 
ligious vow. 

"Education  in  the  public  schools  is  free  and  compulsory." 

I  am  sure  when  one  carefully  considers  these  wise 
enactments  he  will  admit  "The  Laws  of  Reform  are 
Good  Laws,  Just  Laws." 

Three  years  the  Mexicans  under  Juarez  fought 
for  the  Laws  of  Reform.  Says  De  Lara,  in  his  "The 
Mexican  People:" 

"But  the  fight  was  destined  to  be  bitter  and  prolonged,  for 
against  the  limited  resources  of  the  Constitutionalists  were 
pitted  the  millions  of  the  Church  and  against  the  calm  state- 
ments of  the  constitution  were  pitted  the  inflammatory,  sedi- 
tious harangues  of  every  priest  in  the  country.  *  *  *  The 
Church  indeed,  leaning  strongly  upon  her  fundamental  policy 


122  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 


of  psychological  debuachery,  exploited  every  device  known  to 
the  science  of  class  rule,  in  order  to  counterbalance  the  simple, 
mighty  appeal  to  the  people  of  the  great  Constitution  of  1857. 
Her  priests  throughout  the  land  proclaimed  "a  holy  war"  char- 
acterizing the  struggle  as  one  against  the  enemies  of  God.  The 
soldiers  marched  to  battle  bedizened  with  scapularies  and 
crosses,  bearing  aloft  flags  and  banners  inscribed  with  the 
sacred  images  and  symbols  of  religion.  Those  who  fell  were 
extolled  as  martyrs  in  the  holy  cause — the  peers  of  the  first 
Christian  martyrs  under  the  Roman  Empire*" 

None  the  less  right  triumphed.  The  Clerical 
forces  were  utterly  routed.  Before  President  Juarez 
had  full  time  to  perfect  the  magnificent  reforms  he 
had  in  mind,  the  Clerical  Conspirators  prevailed  upon 
France,  Spain  and  England  to  press  their  claims  for 
debt.  As  Napoleon  the  Little  had  foreseen  Spain  and 
England  withdrew  in  disgust  when  they  fully  under- 
stood the  full  conditions  of  affairs  in  poor  Mexico. 
Only  the  French  remained  to  establish  by  force  of 
arms  the  Empire  of  the  Pope's  puppet,  Maximilian.  I 
make  this  statement  advisedly,  and  quote  from  the 
letter  of  Pope  Pius  IX  to  his  Austrian  fugleman  as 
given  in  "Mexico  a  traves  de  los  siglos,"  Vol.  V,  pp. 
671,  sic:— 

Your  Majesty  is  fully  aware  that  in  order  to  remedy  the 
wrongs  committed  against  the  Church  by  the  recent  revolution, 
and  to  restpre  as  soon  as  possible  her  happiness  and  prosperity, 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  Catholic  religion,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  any  other  cult,  continue  to  be  the  glory  and  support 
of  the  Mexican  Nation:  that  the  Bishops  have  complete  liberty 
in  the  exercise  of  their  pastoral  ministry:  that  the  religious 
orders  be  reorganized  and  reestablished,  according  to  the  in- 
structions and  powers  that  We  have  given:  that  the  estates  of 
the  Church  and  her  privileges  be  maintained  and  protected: 
that  none  have  authorization  for  the  teaching  or  publication 
of  false  or  subversive  documents:  that  education  public  or  pri- 
vate be  supervised  and  led  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities: 
and  finally  that  the  chains  be  broken  that  until  now  have  held 
the  Church  under  the  sovereignty  and  despotism  of  civil  gov- 
ernment." 

Of  how  well  Maximilian  obeyed  his  Papal  Master 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  123 

you  may  read  in  history.  In  1866  Napoleon  III  or- 
dered the  withdrawal  of  the  French  Army  of  50,000 
men  under  Marshal  Bazaine,  leaving  the  Pope's  puppet 
to  pay  the  penalty  with  his  life  for  his  numerous  Black 
Decrees  and  an  unblushing  effrontery  in  trying  to 
"Catholicize"  the  Republic  of  Mexico. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  records  will  show 
that  before  the  enactment  of  the  Laws  of  Reform  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  actually  owned  $200,000,000 
of  property  from  which  and  other  sources  the  Church 
derived  an  annual  income  of  not  less  than  $20,000,- 
000.  How  did  they  get  it?  You  will  remember  that 
the  priests  who  came  over  with  Cortez  possessed  only 
a  scanty  wardrobe  and  their  crosses  backed  by  the 
mailclad  men  and  the  Holy  Inquisition.  "Naked  they 
came  and  naked  they  go."    It  is  a  just  law. 

I  have  shown  that  Mexican  Masonry  had  no 
clandestine  origin. 

Now  relative  to  the  claim  that  the  late  revolution 
was  an  I.  W.  W.  and  Socialists'  Movement.  Again  I 
emphatically  differ. 

Matters  were  running  along  nicely  enough  in 
Mexico  as  long  as  President  Diaz  held  true  to  his  Ma- 
sonic Vows,  and  kept  in  force  the  Laws  of  Reform. 
When  having  married  a  second  time,  he  succumbed  to 
the  relatives  of  his  young  wife  Senora  Carmelita  Diaz 
— all  Catholics, — when  he  lifted  the  barriers  and  al- 
lowed the  Catholic  Clergy  some  of  their  old  Fueros  or 
Privileges,  Trouble  Brewed  in  Mexico  as  it  always  will 
there  and  everywhere  when  the  black-robed  members 
of  the  Third  Sex  are  allowed  to  play  Politics. 

Says  De  Lara,  in  "The  Mexican  People": 

"Never  for  a  moment  since  Diaz  came  into  power  in  1876 


124  High,  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 


had  the  spirit  of  revolt  ceased  to  fire  the  hearts  of  the  people. 
Its  manifestation  had  been  repressed  but  the  spirit  lived  on 
and  grew  stronger  with  the  passing  days.  *  *  *  Mexico  under 
Diaz  was  no  place  for  revolutionists.  *  *  *  A  movement  such  as 
this  which  had  for  its  avowed  object  the  enforcement  of  the 
Constitution  of  1857  in  general,  and  the  restoration  of  the 
agrarian  democracy  in  particular  called  for  prompt  suppression 
at  the  hands  of  Diaz  and  the  Scientificos.  Such  a  suppression 
was  not  an  altogether  easy  matter.  Up  to  the  year  1910  liter- 
ally millions  of  dollars  were  expended  by  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment to  stamp  out  the  revolutionary  organization.  At  the  same 
time  the  Scientists  played  into  the  hands  of  the  Roman  Church 
with  the  result  that  Mexico  was  fined  more  than  a  million  dol- 
lars in  the  matter,  of  the  restitution  of  the  long  cancelled  Pious 
funds  formerly  paid  by  Mexico  to  the  Church  in  California  for 
the  upkeep  of  the  missions  to  the  Indians." 

Now  let  us  listen  to  William  R.  Tourbillon,  speak- 
ing on  "The  Curse  of  Mexico"  in  "The  New  Age"  of 
September,  1913: 

"The  Catholics  in  Mexico  as  in  all  parts  of  the  world  dili- 
gently seek  and  acquire  special  influence  over  the  boys  and 
girls,  and  over  the  sisters,  wives  and  mothers  of  men.  They 
especially  direct  their  attention  to  the  sisters,  wives  and 
mothers  of  men  who  are  least  religious  so  that  they  are  able 
to  dominate  even  where  the  head  of  the  house  is  not  a  Cath- 
olic. *  *  *  The  Catholic  Party  knowing  that  General  Diaz  could 
not  abolish  the  Laws  of  Reform  as  Chief  of  the  Liberal  Party, 
whose  program  was  and  is  bound  up  with  these  very  laws, 
worked  with  all  the  influence  in  their  power  to  secure  the  aid 
and  influence  of  the  women  in  the  families  of  Porfirio  Diaz 
and  his  Cabinet.  During  the  life  of  the  first  wife  of  President 
Diaz  this  influence  was  very  small,  and  Diaz  stood  firm  in  his 
convictions.  His  second  wife,  Mrs.  Carmelita  Romero  Rubio 
de  Diaz,  a  most  devout  Catholic,  allowed  herself  to  fall  under 
the  influence  of  the  Church,  which  is  ever  ready  to  gain  a  foot- 
hold in  some  way  or  other,  and  through  ner  dominated  Diaz 
and  the  Government.  Mrs.  Diaz  tried  in  every  way  possible  to 
influence  her  husband.  The  Catholic  Church  through  this  in- 
fluence gained  many  advantages,  and  even  General  Diaz  was 
rapidly  becoming  a  Mocho. 

"Several  years  before  the  late  Madero  revolution  material- 
ized, and  even  during  the  time  the  late  assassinated  President, 
Francisco  I.  Madero  was  going  through  the  country  lecturing 
about  the  great  principles  of  the  Liberal  Party,  a  great  many 
Liberals,  feeling  the  necessity  that  Mexico  had  for  the  preser- 
vation and  enforcement  of  the  Laws  of  Reform,  and  knowing 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  125 


that  the  Catholic  Party  was  attaining  greater  and  greater  in- 
fluence, hoped  and  wished  secretly  for  the  success  of  Don 
Francisco  I.  Madero.  President  Diaz  had  been  so  long  in 
power  and  had  become  so  old  that  he  did  not  realize  the  truth 
and  strength  of  the  movement  that  a  fewTCiberals  helped  to 
blow  into  a  great  flame  and  secure  his  downfall.  These  Lib- 
erals knew  tiiat  the  great  Catholic  Party  was  regaining  control 
and  they  were  determined  to  stop  it.  After  the  loss  of  thou- 
sands of  lives  the  Madero  revolution  triumphed." 

I  only  wish  space  permitted  the  inclusion  of  the 
whole  of  this  very  convincing  and  authoritative  narra- 
tive. As  it  is  I  shall  abstract  only  enough  to  show  the 
sordid  conspiracy  which  caused  the  present  dire  state 
of  affairs  in  Mexico  directly  due  to  "The  Catholic 
curse" : 

"The  Catholics  knew  that  with  the  late  President  Madero 
in  power  they  could  not  dominate.  Above  everything  they  de- 
mand their  former  power.  They  are  working  with  determined 
will  to  have  the  Laws  of  Reform  revoked,  and  to  that  end  noth- 
ing can  stand  in  their  path.  *  *  *  The  principles  of  the  Madero 
Government  were  based  on  Masonic  ideas.  *  *  *  The  principles 
of  Masonry  were  deeply  instilled  in  the  heart  of  Madero  and 
his  Government.  Based  on  these  principles  Madero  spared  the 
life  of  Felix  Diaz  who  had  forfeited  it  at  Vera  Cruz,  where  he 
was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  by  General  Baltran  after  his 
first  revolt.  *  *  *  President  Madero  with  the  help  of  Vice- 
President  Pino  Suarez,  (both  Masons  of  the  highest  degrees,) 
believed,  and  what  is  more  to  the  purpose  put  into  practice  even 
in  the  machinery  of  the  Government,  practical  Masonry.  His 
was  a  Masonry  that  meant  enlightenment  for  the  people^— a 
Masonry  that  did  not  speak  but  acted,  having  always  in  view 
the  advancement  and  education  of  the  masses,  with  absolute 
faith  in  his  brethren  to  carry  out  all  the  principles  contained 
in  the  Masonic  Code.  The  Catholics  in  Mexico,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  been,  were,  and  are  today  opposed  to  uplifting  the 
masses.  Their  interests  have  been  and  are  today  joined  with 
the  10,000  who  own  practically  the  whole  of  Republic  of  Mex- 
ico against  the  12,000,000  that  are  the  tools  of  the  few.  The 
12,000,000  have  always  been  kept  by  them  where  we  now  find 
them,  for  the  priests  know  that  if  through  Masonic  principles 
the  populace  receive  light,  the  Catholic  Church  would  soon 
lose  its  hold  over  them." 

I  ask  you  to  read  the  following  arraignment  by 
William  R.  Tourbillon  and  then  tell  me  if  you  think 


126  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

that  "the  Mexican  Revolution  is  an  I.  W.  W.  Revolu- 
tion" : 

"Madero  represented  honor  and  truth.  His  Government 
despised  treachery  and  cunning  and  unfortunately  for  him  he 
had  faith  in  all  men.  The  Catholic  Party  stands  guilty  today 
of  a  base  combination  and  they  are  morally  guilty  of  the  as- 
sassination of  President  Madero  and  Vice  President  Suarez. 
They  lent  their  moral  aid  to  its  accomplishment.  They  are 
responsible  for  the  present  revolution  in  Mexico,  because  of 
their  intrigues  with  Huerta  and  Diaz. 

"With  Madero's  Government,  Masonry  stood  for  every- 
thing that  is  absolutely  true,  fair,  honest  and  above-board,  and 
the  Catholic  Party  forsook  all  this,  thinking  they  could  gain 
more  power." 

"Out  of  a  clear  sky  the  revolt  in  Mexico  City  started.  The 
Catholic  Party  began  its  intrigue  through  General  Mondragon, 
who  was  afterwards  made  Minister  of  War.  Mondragon 
through  his  friendship  with  the  Colonel  of  the  Government 
Boys'  School  "Aspirantes"  induced  the  Colonel  and  the  boys 
to  join  him.  They  united  with  another  regiment,  went  to  the 
military  prison,  freed  General  Reyes  *  *  *  and  released  General 
Felix  Diaz.  The  band  separated  into  two  parts,  Reyes  going 
to  the  National  Palace  and  in  the  fight  that  ensued  lost  his 
life.  Felix  Diaz  and  Mondragon  went  to  the  arsenal  which 
surrendered  after  a  sham  fight,  and  they  took  possession.  All 
this  had  been  prepared. 

"Huerta  came  to  the  President  and  Vice  President  and  re- 
iterated his  loyalty.  He  was  Commander-in-chief.  All  the 
troops  in  Mexico  were  put  under  his  command.  *  *  *  The  army 
under  Huerta,  President  Madero's  trusted  friend,  shot  at  every- 
thing but  the  enemy.  He  was  a  part  of  the  plot.  The  Roman 
Catholic  Party  had  joined  hands  with  him. 

"The  conspiracy  was  carried  out  in  every  particular.  *  *  * 
The  farce  had  to  be  well  played.  Failure  for  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church,  Huerta  and  Diaz  was  impossible.  Diaz  knew  that 
the  troops  under  Huerta  would  not  shoot  at  him  or  his  troops. 
All  had  been  arranged  beforehand  by  the  Catholic  Party. 

"After  the  tenth  day,  Huerta  personally  invited  the  Presi- 
dent's brother  Don  Gustavo  Madero  to  dinner.  *  *  *  Don  Gus- 
tavo was  seized  and  bound.  He  was  sent  to  the  arsenal,  the 
enemy  stronghold,  where  without  any  trial  he  was  shot  to 
death.  * 

"While  Huerta  did  this,  Huerta's  aid,  General  Blanquet, 
two  blocks  away  from  the  National  Palace,  with  a  group  of 
soldiers  made  prisoners  of  President  Madero  and  Vice  Presi- 
dent Pino  Suarez  in  the  palace.  Huerta  the  trusted  friend  and 
General  of  Madero  and  Suarez  became  President. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  127 


"Huerta  held  them  prisoners  in  the  palace  for  two  days 
before  they  were  killed.  *  *  *  After  the  second  day  and  at 
eleven  o'clock  at  night  Huerta  ordered  that  Madero  and  Pino 
Suarez  should  be  silently  taken  from  the  palace  in  a  closed 
automobile  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary.  When  they  arrived 
there,  they  were  taken  out  to  the  wall  at  one  side  of  this  prison 
and  met  by  a  captain  and  twelve  soldiers.  Vice  President 
Suarez  was  first  shot.  He  had  three  bullets  through  his  head 
and  the  brain  in  the  back  part  of  it  was  all  destroyed.  The 
twelve  men  were  ordered  to  shoot  Madero,  but,  recognizing  the 
President,  refused  to  do  so.  *  *  * 

"The  Captain  then  struck  Madero  over  his  left  eye  with 
hfs  pistol,  knocking  him  senseless  to  the  earth,  and  then  the 
coward  shot  him  from  behind,  the  bullet  going  through  his 
brain  and  coming  out  between  his  eyes.  When  President  Ma- 
dero was  seen  last,  just  before  lowering  his  body  into  his  grave 
in  the  French  cemetery,  his  left  eye  was  swollen,*  it  was  red 
and  blue  from  the  blow. 

"Huerta,  in  order  that  no  witnesses  to  this  bloody  murder 
might  survive,  had  the  twelve  soldiers  shot,  and  the  Captain 
promoted  to  be  a  Colonel.  During  all  that  night  Huerta  did 
not  leave  the  National  Palace. 

"This  is  the  man,  Huerta,  to  whom  the  Catholic  Party  of 
Mexico  'representing  the  Mochos/  gave  their  assistance,  friend- 
ship and  money.  Will  they  give  him  and  his  deeds  the  holy 
blessing  of  the  Pope?" 

Remember  the  facts  stated  are  given  on  absolute 
authority.  For  more  Masonic  Light  on  this  period  I 
refer  to  Hon.  Luis  Manuel  Rojas,  Grand  Master  of  the 
Grand  Lodge,  Valley  of  Mexico,  Mexico  City,  Mexico, 
during  that  period,  a  true  Mason  who  exhausted  all 
the  Masonic  machinery  at  his  disposal  at  that  time  to 
save  the  lives  of  his  brothers  Madero  and  Suarez. 

President  Taft  to  whom  he  repeatedly  appealed 
by  telegraph,  had  already  imparted  instructions  to  the 
American  Ambassador  Henry  Lane  Wilson,  and  rely- 
ing upon  his  timely  intervention  referred  Grand  Mas- 
ter Rojas  to  him.  Now  I  quote  once  more  from  Bro. 
Tourbillon : 

"The  Grand  Master  after  the  conference  with  Mr.  Wilson, 
knew  that  the  Ambassador  was  carrying  out  a  policy  that  up  to 
today  has  had  no  satisfactory  explanation.     Henry  Lane  Wil- 


128  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 


son,  representing  in  Mexico  the  American  Government,  which 
since  the  days  of  its  independence  has  despised  treachery  and 
cunning,  and  has  never  been  a  party  to  anything  that  is  not 
absolutely  true  and  above-board,  allowed  himself  to  become  the 
tool  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Party  of  the  Mochos,  of  Huerta, 
Diaz,  Leon  de  la  Barra,  and  Mondragon.  Ambassador  Wilson 
therefore  could  have  requested,  could  have  demanded,  could 
have  secured  the  lives  of  Madero  and  Suarez,  while  he  walked 
arm  in  arm  with  Huerta  and  the  combination.  *  *  *  Ambassa- 
dor Wilson  would  not  listen  to  the  plea  of  Mrs.  Madero  and 
Mrs.  Suarez  to  save  the  lives  of  their  husbands;  he  was  im- 
plored and  humbly  besought  by  them  to  interfere,  as  they  knew 
it  was  in  his  power  to  do.  *  *  *  Mr.  Wilson  knew  that  Madero 
and  Pino  Suarez  were  to  be  taken  prisoners,  for  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  treacherous  plot  met  in  the  American  Embassy, 
but  he  did  not  advise  either  Madero  or  Pino  Suarez  to  escape. 
"One  word  from  Ambassador  Wilson  would  have  been  suffi- 
cient to  have  delivered  them  to  one  of  the  battleships  which 
were  then  in  Vera  Cruz  harbor.  *  *  *  Nor  was  Mr.  Wilson 
moved  by  the  Grand  Master's  appeal  in  the  name  of  all  Master 
Masons  in  Mexico,  made  to  him  as  a  Master  Mason,  to  save 
the  lives  of  brother  Master  Masons." 

I  have  presented  the  facts  supported  I  think  by 
sufficient  authority.  I  lived  some  years  in  Mexico, 
part  of  the  time  in  Mexico  City  where  I  had  the  privi- 
lege of  daily  meeting  General  Agramonte,  Judge  An- 
dres Horcasitas,  J.  Mostella  Clark  and  other  Masons 
active  in  those  days:  also  much  time  in  interior  Chi- 
huahua where  I  saw  daily  for  myself  the  oppressive- 
ness of  conditions  for  the  masses.  In  our  mines  and 
smelter  we  employed  many  hundred  men  with  whom 
1  came  in  daily  contact. 

Much  more  I  might  say  did  space  permit  but  as 
Bro.  Denman  Wagstaff  says  sapiently: — 

"Masonry  does  not  fight  Catholicism,  *  *  *  she  tolerates  it 
because  of  her  great  Charity  for  all  things.  The  Roman  Church 
is  continually  attacking  Masonry.  Very  unchristianlike  I 
should  say.  We  are  not  intending  to  attack  or  storm  the  Vat- 
ican. There  is  nothing  therein  contained  that  we  need  or  want 
or  prize.  We  not  only  do  not  covet  our  neighbor's  goods,  but 
being  plain  truth-tellers,  we  are  in  addition  constrained  to 
confess  that  "there  is  nothing  there  which  would  be  of  use  to 
an  American." 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  MORMONS  IN  MEXICO 

Among  settlers  of  foreign  birth  in  Mexico  who 
have  suffered  severely  from  the  depredations  of  the 
banditti,  variously  styled  "Villistas,"  "Colorados"  and 
other  free  lances  of  the  northern  states,  none  have 
fared  worse  than  the  Mormons. 

Infinitely  pathetic  is  the  story  of  this  people  with- 
out a  country,  living  in  isolation  for  the  sake  of  a 
principle  which  they  have  ever  believed  to  be  a  correct 
one. 

Familiar  to  all  is  the  story  of  tribulation  and  per- 
secution clustering  around  the  early  days  of  Mormon- 
ism  in  America.  The  finding  of  the  "Golden  Plates" 
containing  the  Book  of  Mormon,  by  a  fifteen-year-old 
farmer  boy,  Joseph  Smith,  "chosen  of  the  Lord,"  on 
the  night  of  September  21,  1823,  a  slow  but  gradual 
spread  of  his  cult,  the  foundation  of  the  first  Mormon 
settlement  at  Kirkland,  Ohio,  the  open  profligacy  and 
dishonesty  of  the  "Prophet"  culminating  in  his  flight 
westward  accompanied  by  a  small  army  of  "the  Faith- 
ful" and  the  erection  of  Nauvoo  as  an  independent  na- 
tion. The  murder  of  Joseph  Smith  and  his  brother 
Hiram  by  an  indignant  populace,  the  First  Grusade  of 
the  Latter  Day  Saints  over  the  arid  desert  to  Salt 
Lake,  and  their  final  settlement  in  Utah,  are  all  part 
of  American  history. 

The  Second  Crusade  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints  is 
however  an  unwritten  chapter. 

From  the  earliest  propagation  of  the  doctrines 


130  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

of  polygamy  by  the  "Prophet,"  the  seeds  of  opposition 
on  the  part  of  civilized  people  were  sown.  No  effectual 
step  was  taken  to  blot  out  the  nefarious  custom  until 
the  passage  of  the  Edmunds  Law  in  1882. 

The  enforcement  of  this  led  to  the  imprisonment 
of  12,000  of  the  polygamists.  At  that  time  in  1880 
the  Mormons  numbered  about  150,000  and  were  quite 
helpless  to  resist  the  spread  of  righteous  reaction 
against  their  unconventional  marriage  customs.  It 
was  no  longer  possible,  as  in  the  old  days  of  the 
Nauvoo  National  Guard,  and  the  Danites,  to  offer  any 
substantial  resistance  to  the  lawful  authority  of  the 
United  States. 

Therefore,  the  Mormons  yielded  to  the  Edmunds 
Law  perforce. 

In  1884  the  head  of  the  Mormon  sect  in  Utah  was 
President  John  Taylor.  He  was  a  man  of  somewhat 
broader  views  than  his  predecessors.  He  was  also  a 
past  master  in  diplomacy.  Seeing  the  near  doom  of 
polygamy  in  the  United  States,  Taylor,  after  due  con- 
sultation with  the  Patriarch  and  Apostles  of  Utah, 
formulated  the  Second  Crusade  of  the  Latter  Day 
Saints,  which  was  to  lead  those  of  the  Faithful,  polyg- 
amously  inclined  to  a  haven  of  rest. 

Knowing  the  venality  of  Mexican  officials,  the 
projectors  of  the  movement  turned  to  that  country  as 
a  place  where,  without  fear  of  any  molestation,  they 
might  establish  harems  to  their  hearts  content. 

The  exodus  into  Mexico  began  in  1885  with  an 
advance  guard  of  four  families,  all  of  them  being 
"plural  families."  Over  the  alkaline  desert  they  toiled, 
finding  an  oasis  at  last  near  Ascension  in  the  state  of 
Chihuahua. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  131 

Two  thousand  Mormons  followed  in  their  wake. 

Until  the  outbreak  of  the  present  revolution,  the 
Mormon  settlements  at  Juarez,  Diaz,  Pacheco,  Du 
Blan,  and  Oaxaca,  were  as  ideal  and  prosperous  com- 
munities as  one  might  find  anywhere  in  the  tropics. 

Although  an  ostracized  people,  the  polygamous 
Mormons  inherited  the  innate  cuteness  of  their  Amer- 
ican progenitors.  In  their  location  of  their  new  col- 
onies, they  chose  the  most  fertile  and  best  irrigated 
lands  of  northern  Mexico.  In  consequence,  they  soon 
attained  a  monopoly  on  agriculture  in  their  several  dis- 
tricts. The  poor  peon  Mexican  of  the  neighborhood 
was  compelled  to  purchase  Mormon  watermelons  at 
Mormon  prices  else  solace  himself  with  desert  cactus. 

It  has  been  known  from  the  outset  that  polygamy 
was  openly  countenanced  in  Mexico.  Should  a  man  be 
blessed  with  several  wives,  he  had  no  hesitancy  in 
maintaining  individual  establishments  for  each.  It 
had  become  down  there  "costumbre  del  pais."  A  quite 
convenient  arrangement.  Should  Brother  Smith  hap- 
pen to  have  a  martial  unpleasantness  with  Sister  Mary 
Smith,  (wife  number  one),  he  could  find  consolation 
at  the  adjoining  residence  of  Sister  Jennie  Smith, 
(wife  number  two) ,  and  so  on,  until  he  had  eventually 
made  the  rounds  of  the  ladies  comprising  his  menage. 

There  is  no  place  for  the  suffragette  under  the 
ruling  spirit  and  control  of  this  religion  begotten  of 
sexuality.  Their  belief  in  the  hereafter  is  deification 
of  the  dead  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  times  the 
deceased  may  have  been  joined  in  wedlock. 

A  woman  can  be  "sealed"  or  married  to  a  dead 
personality,  should  the  powers  that  be  wish  to  sanctify 


132  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

some  deceased  brother  by  giving  him  an  additional 
wife. 

There  is  an  element  of  Terrorism  in  the  system. 

In  order  to  attain  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  here- 
after, a  woman's  life  must  be  such,  as  to  warrant  her 
being  "called"  by  her  husband  to  join  the  assembly  of 
"the  glorified." 

It  is  a  Polytheism,  the  leading  spirit  in  the  after 
world  being  Adam,  the  next  in  rank  Jesus  Christ,  Ma- 
homet, Joseph  Smith,  Brigham  Young,  and  so  on  ad 
infinitem  through  numberless  Saints  more  difficult  of 
enumeration  than  the  Josses  of  a  Chinese  temple. 

Few  people  realize  the  present  strength  of  the 
Mormon  Church. 

They  have  ceased  to  be  a  mere  sect  or  community. 

They  are  a  power. 

Mormon  missionaries  are  scattered  over  Europe 
and  the  vast  extension  of  an  immense  territory,  gath- 
ering recruits  from  the  lower  walks  of  life,  from  the 
peasantry  and  canaille  of  the  world,  for  on  such  soil 
their  teachings  thrive. 

Today  the  Mormons  number  nearly  half  a  million. 
Among  the  male  members  of  the  sect,  are  many  of 
scholarly  attainments  and  bright  intellect, 

In  Mexico,  as  a  class  the  men  are  plain,  sturdy 
farmers  and  ranchers,  honest,  practical  and  long-suf- 
fering, firmly  believing  in  the  principles  and  precepts 
of  their  church,  quite  willing  to  undergo  any  sacrifice 
or  privation  for  a  cause  to  which  they  are  devoted 
body  and  soul. 

Mormon  women  have  ever  been  a  simple  and 
trusting  class  with  an  inherent  resignation  to  their 
lot.     Many  of  them  in  Mexico  fade  early,  and  have 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  133 

the  haggard,  nervous,  careworn  look  that  marks  a  se- 
cret sorrow. 

And  why  not?  The  status  of  the  women  doomed 
to  live  in  polygamy,  is  at  best  a  humiliating  one.  It 
is  contrary  to  the  very  best  traditions  of  Anglo-Saxon 
peoples  to  degrade  their  women  to  the  level  of  con- 
cubines. Even  the  later  generation  of  Mexican  Mor- 
mon women,  born  and  reared  to  regard  plural  union 
as  their  only  path  to  salvation,  have  within  their  in- 
most hearts  a  something  which  must  cry  out  against 
the  shameful  practice,  and  which  in  time  must  serve 
to  bring  their  benighted  souls  back  to  an  appreciation 
of  the  unwritten  laws  of  civilization  and  twentieth 
century  progress. 

The  question  of  polygamy  has  been  solved  in  the 
United  States. 

Its  future  in  Mexico  is  still  hidden  behind  the  veil 
of  the  great  unknown. 

Pornrio  Diaz  tolerated  Mormonism  because  of  the 
considerable  revenues  added  to  the  Mexican  Treasury 
by  these  intelligent  and  hard-working  agriculturists. 
It  is  probable  that  his  successor,  Madero,  had  he  been 
spared  would  have  exhibited  a  like  tolerance  for  the 
Mormons,  insisting  only  that  they  abolish  polygamy, 
as  inconsistent  with  the  utilitarian  ideals  of  Constitu- 
tional Government.  Under  Huerta,  cupidity  would 
have  been  his  inspiration  to  leave  this  people  without 
a  country  unmolested. 

As  to  the  policy  of  Don  Venustiano  Carranza,  the 
future  alone  will  reveal.  The  new  Constitution  now 
under  drafting  at  Queretaro,  not  only  embodies  the 
best  features  of  the  Constitution  of  1857  but  contains 
many  new  clauses   calculated   to  meet  more  modern 


134  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

conditions.  The  same  incentive  that  has  led  to  abolish- 
ment of  Monastic  Orders  from  Mexico,  the  curbing  of 
sectarian  religious  activities,  will  undoubtedly  apply 
to  the  practice  of  the  Mormons  resident  in  Mexico. 

Greater  problems  than  this  must  first  be  met  and 
solved  by  the  little  old  gentleman  of  Cuatro  Cienegas, 
Coahuila.  With  his  back  to  the  wall,  Carranza  is  mak- 
ing a  final  stand  for  Mexican  Liberalism  as  opposed  to 
Mexican  Clericalism. 

The  success  or  failure  of  the  Constitutionalist 
Party  in  Mexico  depends  entirely  upon  the  support — 
moral  and  financial — accorded  by  the  United  States. 
Had  Herr  Zimmermann  of  Berlin  studied  a  little  more 
closely  the  Foreign  Relations  between  Mexico  and  the 
United  States,  he  would  hardly  have  attempted  so  dip- 
lomatic a  faux  pas  as  his  fatuous  plot  to  align  Mexico 
with  Germany  and  Japan  against  an  American  admin- 
istration which  has  materially  aided  Carranza's  cause 
against  insurmountable  obstacles,  when  all  the  world 
was  clamoring  for  intervention. 


CHAPTER  X 

LIFE  ACROSS  THE  RIO  GRANDE 

(Copyrighted  By  John  Lewin  McLeish.) 

In  Mexico  history  has  shown  a  remarkable  num» 
ber  of  repetitions. 

Again  and  again  the  popular  idol  of  yesterday  has 
degenerated  into  the  "malo  hombre"  of  today.  For 
example : 

In  1823  the  blanketed  hoi  polloi  had  worked  them- 
selves into  a  frenzy  of  enthusiasm  over  their  Libera- 
tor General  Iturbide.  They  acclaimed  him  Emperor. 
One  year  later  they  lined  him  up  against  a  mud  wall 
at  Padilla  and  shot  him  from  a  living  perpendicular 
to  a  dead  level. 

Some  little  time  thereafter  another  of  their  na- 
tional heroes,  old  Vicente  Guerrero  became  President. 
When  the  fickle  masses  had  wearied  of  his  rule,  they 
conveniently  deposed  him  and  bestowed  upon  him  the 
fate  accorded  Iturbide. 

Time  and  again,  General  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa 
Anna  triumphantly  entered  the  national  capital  to  a 
deafening  chorus  of  "vivas,"  and  time  and  again  he 
was  forced  to  flee.  Always  he  was  shrewd  enough  to 
carry  away  with  him  all  such  government  securities 
as  proved  portable.  Then  from  a  safe  distance  the 
wily  old  diplomat  would  inchoate  negotiations  for  a 
recall.  He  generally  succeeded.  You  see,  the  Mex- 
icans needed  the  money.  Then  as  now  they  were  over- 
burdened with  financial  desuetude. 


136  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Perhaps,  when  you  fully  understand  the  peculiar 
psychology  of  the  Mexican  peons  who  constitute  two- 
thirds  of  the  population,  you  can  form  a  conception  of 
how  very  uncertain  is  this  country's  future,  based  up- 
on the  past  performances  of  this  vacillating  and  brom- 
idic  people. 

As  the  peon  was  yesterday,  he  is  today,  will  be 
tomorrow. 

Human  nature  seldom  changes.  Types  remain  the 
same. 

Peon  customs,  traditions  and  habits  of  life  are 
as  firmly  fastened  upon  them  as  were  almost  identical 
characteristics  upon  the  serfs  of  the  old  world  during 
the  middle  ages. 

In  spite  of  all  claims  to  the  contrary,  in  old  Mex- 
ico the  time  of  "Jacques  Bonhomme,,  has  not  yet  ar- 
rived. When  their  day  does  dawn,  a  man  of  far  dif- 
ferent type  than  Don  Venustiano  Carranza  or  any  of 
the  idealistic  "Richmonds"  who  have  taken  the  field  in 
the  last  five  years,  will  lead  the  peon  masses  from  the 
darkness  into  light. 

Every  country  has  its  types,  studies  in  human  na- 
ture these  "world's  canaille,"  ever  offering  to  the  stu- 
dent of  psychology  a  most  fertile  field  for  investiga- 
tion. 

France  furnishes  us  the  Savoyards,  Germany  the 
Suabians,  Mexico  the  peons. 

The  traveler,  gliding  through  Mexico  by  well- 
traveled  trails,  fails  to  come  into  intimate  contact  with 
that  real  peon  class  who  form  so  major  a  part  of  the 
population.  To  study  them  to  the  best  advantage,  one 
must   travel   by   diligencia,   into  the  remote  interior, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  137 

where  the  onward  march  of  progress  has  not  yet  in- 
truded to  do  away  with  the  pastoral  simplicity  of 
these  adult  children  of  the  southland. 

In  spite  of  an  ever-present  scarcity  of  "real 
money/'  the  peons  manage  to  derive  considerable 
pleasure  out  of  life  under  the  most  monotonous  condi- 
tions. 

The  peon  language  is  a  dialect  rich  in  patois.  It 
is  entirely  different  from  the  musical  Castilian  spoken 
by  the  cultured  classes. 

Like  the  old  world  peasants,  the  peons  have  a  wealth 
of  tradition  behind  them.  Their  folklore  is  as  rich  in 
imagry  as  the  old  world  Yule  tales. 

In  the  dusk  of  evening,  it  is  no  uncommon  thing 
for  them  to  gather  in  little  groups,  and  in  the  softest 
of  musical  patois  tell  over  and  over  again  the  beautiful 
legend  of  "Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe,"  or  some  equally 
weird  tale  handed  down  to  them  from  their  forbears. 
Nor  is  it  an  uncommon  sight  to  see  a  withered  old 
peon  granddad  grouping  about  him  a  little  brown  band 
of  scantily  clad  tots,  to  tell  them  stories  of  brave 
Hidalgo,  poor  Iturbide,  rugged  Victoria  Guadalupe, 
brave  Benito  Juarez  and  other  idols  of  the  common 
people.  All  the  history  that  the  masses  possess  has 
been  acquired  in  this  primitive  fashion. 

Peon  music  has  the  weird  strain  of  fhe  wilder- 
ness. It  is  a  music  of  the  plain  people.  Like  all  such 
people  it  has  a  superabundance  of  simple  sentiment. 
It  is  replete  with  pathos,  simplicity,  love  and  fiery 
passion. 

One  may  seek  far  yet  fail  to  find  more  touching 
melody  than  the  songs  of  the  peon  swains.  Into  their 
singing   they   put   their   whole  heart  and  soul.    You 


138  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

know  it  comes  from  the  heart.  As  it  rings  through 
the  arroyos  and  mountain  canyons,  there  is  about  the 
peon  music  a  wild,  barbaric  strain  which  holds  the  lis- 
tener spellbound.  Their  love  songs  have  a  martial 
strain  which  is  passion  personified. 

The  average  peon  home  of  the  interior  is  a  jacal 
hollowed  out  of  the  hillsides  and  arroyos.  Miserable, 
hovel  like  little  shacks  they  are,  about  as  large  as  your 
bathroom,  with  scarcely  room  enough  to  admit  of  a 
tall  man  standing  upright.  If  the  peon  happens  to  be 
working,  he  thatches  his  jacal  in  the  building  with 
straw.  And  sometimes  he  manages  to  carpet  the 
earth  floor  with  coyote  skins.  In  time  of  leisure, 
which  is  most  often,  the  straw  and  the  skins  are  ex- 
changed for  a  few  drinks. 

The  sole  source  of  ventilation  in  a  peon  home  is 
the  narrow  aperture  which  answers  for  a  door.  With- 
in one  of  these  cramped,  eight  foot  apartments,  may 
generally  be  found  the  head  of  the  house,  four  or  five 
children,  the  wife,  her  mother  and  maybe  a  few  sis- 
ters. In  addition  to  this  interesting  family  there  are 
usually  three  or  four  dogs,  a  pig,  a  rooster,  the  in- 
evitable hens  and  sometimes  a  long-eared  burro. 

When  everyone  is  wrapped  in  slumber,  some  un- 
charitably disposed  dog  lets  out  a  long,  resounding 
howl  which  is  immediately  taken  up  by  all  the  other 
dogs  in  the  neighborhood.  In  this  pandemonium  the 
pigs,  the  rooster  and  even  the  burro  join.  But  the 
peon  sleeps  placidly  on.  They  are  used  to  this  con- 
catenation of  sounds. 

The  staple  menu  of  a  peon  family  is  tortillas  and 
coffee.  The  tortillas  are  made  from  maize  ground  on 
a   "metate,"   a  curved   stone  shaped  like  an  inclined 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  139 

plane.     Sometimes  the  diet  is  varied  with  meat  and 
red  pepper  dished  up  in  the  familiar  "chili  con  carne." 

In  their  daily  life  this  happy-go-lucky  people 
greatly  resemble  the  Savoyards.  Unless  held  down  by 
an  incubus  of  debt,  as  is  often  the  case,  they  are  of  a 
roving,  peripatetic  disposition.  In  the  mining  districts 
in  particular  is  this  the  case.  Here  the  daily  average 
wage  scale  for  the  man  laborer  is  from  thirty-two 
cents  to  two  dollars.  If  a  boom  occurs  nearby,  the 
head  of  the  peon  household  cries  "Vamonos."  The 
family  exodus  is  on. 

Moving  for  the  peons  presents  no  arduous  task. 
Their  average  household  goods  consist  of  a  few  tat- 
tered serapes,  a  coffee  pot,  a  metate,  a  frying  pan,  tin 
cups  and  the  animal  menage. 

In  the  south  of  Mexico  the  peons  are  generally 
attached  to  one  of  the  large  haciendas  where  wages 
are  good,  conditions  comfortable. 

As  manual  laborers  the  peon  men  are  tolerable, 
provided  they  are  kept  constantly  under  surveillance. 
Probably  no  other  class  of  people  are  so  lazy.  The 
fault  is  bred  of  generations  of  laziness,  and  a  dolce  far 
niente  climate. 

"Peon  Paradise"  consists  of  a  shady  spot  where 
one  can  roll  innumerable  cigarettes  and  puff  one's  soul 
away  into  dreamland. 

Even  from  such  an  ideal  state  the  peon  can  be 
aroused  if  some  soul  philanthropically  inclined  appears 
at  the  door  of  a  cantina  and  agrees  to  "pay  for  the 
drinks." 

A  more  generally  illiterate  people  it  would  be  hard 
to  find.    Their  mental  estate  is  but  a  grade  higher 


140  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

than  that  of  the  savage.    Their  education  is  of  brawn 
not  of  brain. 

On  one  point  custom  has  trained  them  well.  They 
possess  a  splendid  capacity  for  remembering  innumer- 
able national  and  religious  holidays,  such  as  Cinco  de 
Mayo,  September  16th,  etc. 

Among  most  peons  moderation  is  an  unknown 
quantity.  On  the  holiday  which  happens  regularly 
once  or  twice  a  week,  they  glut  themselves  with  native 
liquors  at  three  cents  the  glass,  until  they  have  at- 
tained a  nirvana  of  happy  stupefaction.  Some  cele- 
bration theirs,  believe  me. 

In  dress  simplicity  is  the  peon  rule.  The  women 
wear  the  cheapest  of  cheap  manta  gowns,  falling  loose- 
ly about  their  persons  like  a  "Mother  Hubbard."  The 
men  are  quite  content  to  wear  whatever  turns  up,  pro- 
vided only  they  may  have  a  nice  sombrero  with  a  little 
more  silver  upon  it  than  one's  neighbor.  The  som- 
brero with  its  heavy  bullion  is  in  Peonland  the  visible 
badge  of  prosperity,  a  sort  of  Order  of  the  Golden 
Fleece,  and  an  ever  evident  sign  of  eminent  respecta- 
bility and  uncompromising  virtue. 

It  matters  not  that  one's  overalls  are  sadly  worn 
at  the  seat,  so  worn  indeed  as  to  necessitate  the  wear- 
ing of  one's  shirt-tail  without  in  due  deference  to  de- 
cency's demands, — the  gaudy  eagle  and  cactus  worked 
in  bullion  upon  one's  headgear,  gives  the  lie  to  any 
palpable  accusation  of  poverty  insinuated  by  a  rent  in 
one's  overalls'  rear. 

The  full-blooded  Indians  of  peonland  are  studies  in 
the  nude. 

It  is  no  infrequent  thing  in  some  of  the  interior 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  141 

towns  to  see  a  family  of  these  strutting  through  the 
streets  clad  quite  in  the  altogether. 

Black-eyed  peon  children  play  about  half-naked  in 
the  sun.  Most  of  them  wear  only  a  tight-fitting  little 
undershirt  or  smock. 

These  children  even  as  ours  have  their  character- 
istic games.  To  them  such  crudities  are  quite  as  in- 
teresting as  the  more  decorous  juvenile  amusements 
of  effete  civilization.    For  example: 

Some  enterprising  youngster  possesses  himself  of 
an  old  pair  of  horns  and  personates  a  bull.  The  other 
children  with  sticks  and  rags  adopt  the  respective 
roles  of  espada,  and  picadors.  An  imaginary  bullring 
is  arranged.  Soon  a  genuine  combat  is  in  progress, 
from  the  opening  procession  around  the  ring  to  the 
final  slaying  of  the  bull.  And  all  the  while  the  play  is 
enlivened  by  shrill  cries  in  childish  treble: 
"Bravo — bravissimo, — El  Toro !" 

Sometimes  the  play  ends  up  in  a  free-for-all  fight. 
There  are  alas,  resultant  black  eyes  and  bloody  noses. 

Among  the  peons  of  the  interior  there  is  an  as- 
tounding lack  of  morals.  In  many  communities  a 
priest  is  seen  but  once  or  twice  a  year.  His  charges 
for  tying  the  matrimonial  knot  are  generally  too  high 
for  the  improvident  peon.  In  consequence  common 
law  association  has  taken  the  place  of  church  cere- 
mony. The  necessarily  infrequent  coming  of  the 
priest  has  a  distinct  influence  upon  the  funeral  obse- 
quies. There  is  upon  such  occasions,  little  of  the  sol- 
emnity which  the  presence  of  a  clergyman  insures. 

A  dead  peon  is  placed  in  the  cheapest  of  wood 
boxes,  unembellished  and  unmarked,  to  be  borne  away 
to  his  "ultima  casa,"  some  six  feet  of  desert  soil, 


142  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

where  he  is  stowed  away  with  as  little  ceremony  as 
his  pet  dog. 

When  a  peon  child  dies  there  is  a  difference. 

A  band  of  peon  musicians,  violin,  mandolin  and 
guitar  players,  are  procured.  These  precede  the  fun- 
eral procession  playing  such  pieces  as  practice  has 
made  near-perfect,  with  an  utter  disregard  of  the  sol- 
emnity of  the  occasion  for  which  they  have  been  hired. 

The  dead  child  is  laid  out  in  red,  blue  or  green, 
or  such  other  combination  of  gaudy  colors  as  the  odds 
and  ends  of  the  peon  household  afford.  Were  it  not 
for  the  low  wailing  "Ay  de  mi — ay  de  mi" — you  could 
hardly  realize  that  you  were  witnessing  a  funeral. 

About  the  peon  cemetery  is  something  inexpress- 
ibly pathetic. 

Over  a  desert,  sun-baked  waste,  you  may  see  scat- 
tered at  intervals,  a  few  stone-covered  mounds,  each 
surmounted  by  a  crude  wooden  cross,  with  the  name 
of  the  deceased.  There  is  always  a  pitiful  contrast 
between  these  poor,  neglected  little  interior  grave- 
yards, and  the  well-kept,  imposing  cemeteries  of  the 
rich  in  Mexico. 

There  is  no  middle  class  in  old  Mexico.  The  pop- 
ulation has  a  strict  line  of  demarcation  between  the 
very  rich,  and  the  poor  peons. 

To  find  the  superlative  degree  of  uncleanliness, 
one  should  pass  a  little  time  in  an  interior  village.  The 
people  fairly  wallow  in  dirt,  indeed  seem  to  like  it. 
Such  a  thing  as  a  bath  is  an  unheard-of  luxury.  The 
streets  are  full  of  offal,  and  were  it  not  for  the  sopil- 
otes,  or  carrion  birds  of  prey,  the  mortality  would  be 
frightful.  Even  in  the  larger  cities,  the  unhygienic 
condition  of  the  native  quarters  is  a  frequent  menace 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  143 


to  health.  In  times  of  epidemic  of  smallpox,  typhoid 
or  typhus,  peon  women  flock  recklessly  into  a  sickroom 
accompanied  by  their  babies  and  young  children  ex- 
hibiting an  utter  disregard  to  all  danger.  They  have 
a  superstition  that  these  infections  are  necessary. 
When  opportunity  presents,  they  take  every  chance  to 
contract  disease  and  so  the  sooner  have  it  over  with. 
Generally  they  succeed,  as  an  inspection  of  the  local 
graveyard  will  demonstrate. 

The  Mexican  masses  have  not  a  little  knowledge 
of  the  healing  merits  of  herbs.  In  the  interior,  if  no 
doctor  is  at  hand,  they  themselves  confidently  under- 
take the  treatment  of  their  sick.  Their  greatest  re- 
liance is  placed  on  purgatives. 

Perhaps  the  peons  who  have  the  hardest  lot  are 
those  employed  in  the  mines.  They  must  drill  down 
in  deep  shafts  where  the  atmosphere  is  almost  suffo- 
cating, the  ventilation  wretched.  Some  of  them  haul 
on  their  heads  huge  sacks  of  ore  which  would  pros- 
trate an  average  man.  Some  of  these  sacks  weigh  150 
to  200  pounds. 

It  is  a  novel  sight  to  enter  a  Mexican  mine  and 
peer  down  into  a  very  inferno  of  darkness  where  can 
be  seen  the  twinkling  glow  of  many  candles.  From 
far  below  comes  a  labored,  stertorious  groaning  like 
unto  the  wail  of  a  lost  soul.  It  is  the  slow,  measured 
chorus  of  peon  miners  keeping  time  to  the  steady  tin- 
tinabulation  of  their  drills. 

At  the  entrance  to  every  mine  is  a  shrine  to  one 
of  the  saints.  It  is  pretty  because  of  its  simplicity. 
Usually  there  is  a  little  wooden  Virgin  decked  out  in 
white  manta  and  surrounded  by  tawdry  tinsel  decora- 
tions.   Behind  this  figure  is  a  plain,  wooden  crucifix. 


144  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  prevail  upon  a  peon  to  descend 
a  shaft  in  which  there  is  not  a  shrine. 

Passing  from  shaft  to  shaft  one  sees  dusky, 
sweating  miners  quite  naked  save  for  their  overalls, 
hard  at  their  task.  They  are  splendid  specimens  of 
physical  manhood,  their  huge,  corded  muscles  re- 
sponding to  every  movement  of  arms  and  limbs. 

In  appearance,  the  peon  somewhat  resembles  the 
American  Indian.  Dusky  in  complexion,  with  long, 
smooth,  black  hair,  high  cheekbones  and  eyes  of  pierc- 
ing black,  they  are  easily  distinguished  from  the  light- 
er, more  clean-cut  Mexicans  of  Castilian  descent. 

In  the  larger  towns  on  the  railroads  the  peon  ex- 
ercises many  functions.  Huckster,  small  merchant, 
dispenser  of  pulque,  professional  guide,  and  beggar 
make  him  a  Jack  of  all  trades. 

Since  1910  he  has  added  a  new  vocation  to  his 
varied  many, — professional  revolutionist.  It  depends 
on  circumstances  whether  his  voice  be  raised  for 
Senor  Villa,  General  Obregon,  First  Chief  Carranza, 
or  some  independent  Jefe  who  has  issued  a  pronuncia- 
miento  against  all  of  these  martial  aspirants  for 
power.  The  peon  follows  the  bellwether.  If  the  Jefe 
Politico  of  his  town  happens  to  be  a  Carranzista,  the 
little  peon  pawn  will  acclaim  the  bespectacled  gentle- 
man from  Cuatro  Cienegas,  Coahuila.  Just  as  readily 
will  he  enthuse  over  Villa  should  an  unlucky  turn  of 
the  wheel  place  the  northern  General's  star  in  the  as- 
cendant. To  tell  the  truth  our  poor  peon  hardly  un- 
derstands at  any  time  just  who  or  what  he  is  shout- 
ing and  mayhap  fighting  for.  When  a  crowd  comes 
along  with  old-fashioned  flintlocks,  if  they  find  him 
in  the  notion,  a  new  recruit  is  gained.  The  peon  seizes 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  145 

his  machete  or  stiletto,  and  marches  along  docilely 
enough.  And  when  it  is  all  over,  if  he  has  been  lucky 
enough  to  escape  unshot,  he  bobs  up  again  serenely  in 
his  native  village,  a  "sure  'nough"  hero. 

As  a  beggar  the  peon  has  few  superiors.  There 
is  not  an  ailment  to  which  humanity  is  subject,  which 
he  cannot  simulate  to  perfection. 

At  train  time,  a  railroad  station  in  Mexico  re- 
sembles an  outdoor  hospital.  Here  one  may  find  a 
variety  of  interesting  if  not  genuine  clinical  studies. 
The  traveler  is  beset  by  a  whining  crowd  appealing 
with  a  doleful, 

"Un  centavo,  senor, — Un  poquito  centavo,  no  mas. 
For  the  love  of  Christ  just  a  penny,  kind  sir." 

The  peon's  ideal  recreation  is  "El  Baile"  (the 
dance) . 

Whenever  a  band  of  straggling  musicians  invade 
a  peon  village,  they  may  be  reasonably  assured  of  em- 
ployment, so  long  as  a  dollar  remains  in  town.  If  it 
chances  to  be  a  feast  day,  the  baile  is  on  more  elab- 
orate lines.  Crudely  scrawled  invitations  are  sent  out 
to  the  peon  elite  by  "the  committee." 

The  house  chosen  for  a  baile  is  generally  the  lar- 
gest in  town.  Some  extra  candles  are  borrowed  from 
the  neighbors.  The  musicians  are  ensconced  on  some 
soap  boxes  piled  one  upon  another  to  form  a  stage. 

By  nine  thirty  the  ball  room  is  ready  for  the 
guests.  Those  not  belonging  to  the  "society  of  Peon- 
land"  peep  in  at  the  open  door  or  crowd  the  windows. 
Everybody  smokes  with  an  air  of  stolid  indifference  to 
the  oppressive  atmosphere. 

A   copious   supply   of   the  strong  native  liquors, 


146  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

tequilla  and  mescal,  is  ever  the  concomitant  of  a  peon 
dance. 

Senoras  and  senoritas  are  seated.  The  men  line 
themselves  along  the  walls.    All  are  smoking. 

I  once  asked  an  old  Kentucky  mining  man  who 
had  accompanied  me  to  one  of  these  functions,  as  to 
the  particular  etiquette  of  the  baile. 

"Wal,  when  you  git  thar,"  he  drawled,  puffing  at 
his  pipe,  "jes'  don't  you  wait  for  no  interduction.  Hike 
up  to  any  of  them  senoritas,  say  "vamonos,"  grab  her 
around  the  waist,  then  dance.  That's  the  way  I  does, 
and  it  goes,  too." 

I  found  he  was  right.  There  is  little  or  no  eti- 
quette at  a  peon  baile.  During  the  intermissions  the 
"ladies"  occupy  every  available  seat,  while  the  "gen- 
tlemen" dash  off  to  the  adjoining  room  to  sample  such 
liquid  refreshments  as  may  be  available. 

Perhaps  at  long  intervals  during  the  evening 
some  thoughtful  senor  will  bring  his  senorita  a  piece 
of  dulce,  a  cake  and  a  glass  of  red  wine.  He  never 
omits  taking  copious  refreshment  unto  himself  after 
each  and  every  dance. 

One  custom  seems  to  be  firmly  established  at 
these  functions. 

You  are  expected  to  retain  the  same  partner  all 
through  the  evening. 

If  you  have  been  unlucky  enough  to  draw  a  dusky 
belle  weighing  250  or  300  pounds,  as  did  the  writer  on 
one  ever-to-be-remembered  evening,  when  it  was  hot 
and  stuffy,  I  think  you'll  vow  never  again  to  be  lured 
into  being  guest  at  a  baile. 

In  the  subdued  glow  from  many  candles,  the  peon 
senoritas  present  a  very  winsome  appearance.    Neatly 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  147 

dressed  in  white,  with  their  exquisite  black  tresses 
tastily  arranged,  their  large,  luminous  black  eyes 
aglow  with  pleasurable  excitement,  there  are  naturally 
in  their  number  no  wall  flowers. 

The  orchestra  starts  up  at  the  appointed  hour. 

Every  one  cries  "Vamonos." 

There  is  the  universal  grab  for  a  partner. 

The  couples  are  off. 

The  room  is  a  swish  of  noise  and  a  glow  of  color, 
as  the  petite  senoritas, — mine  was  an  exception — and 
dusky  caballeros  sway  slowly  along  through  the  mazes 
of  la  danza. 

The  movements  of  a  Mexican  dance  are  aggravat- 
ingly  slow  and  sinuous.  The  tension  on  the  limbs  of 
one  uninitiated  is  almost  painful. 

Sometimes  while  a  waltz  is  in  progress,  the  vari- 
ous couples  at  a  given  signal  form  in  a  circle.  Then 
the  two  leading  couples  pirouette  up  and  down,  until  a 
clapping  of  hands  signal  them  to  break  away  and  af- 
ford another  couple  opportunity  to  preen  themselves 
in  the  public  eye. 

Another  pair  follow  and  so  on  ad  infinitem,  until 
all  have  played  their  little  part.  Then  they  begin  all 
over  again. 

Now  the  hour  grows  late.  After  each  dance  the 
drunkenly  philanthropic  "committee"  appear  carrying 
a  little  brown  jug  and  glasses.  Every  one  present 
libates.  It  is  insulting  (according  to  the  ethics  of 
Peonland)  to  refuse. 

The  room  has  now  taken  on  the  appearance  of  a 
London  fog,  thanks  to  the  inevitable  cigarettes. 

More  and  more  frequent  is  doled  out  the  tequilla, 
the  mescal,  the  red  wine.    When  the  supply  at  hand 


148  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

gives  out,  the  committee  shamelessly  take  up  a  collec- 
tion. 

The  little  brown  jug  disappears  in  the  darkness 
*t  the  night  to  come  again  presently  like  the  phoenix 
from  the  flame,  "a  live  little  jug"  once  more. 

By  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  one  or  more  of  the 
orchestra  has  succumbed  to  intoxication.  The  rest  of 
the  band  manfully  struggle  along,  until  one  by  one, 
the  live  little  jug  puts  them  down  and  out  for  the 
count. 

This  involuntary  retirement  of  the  last  musician 
marks  the  closing  of  El  Baile. 

Such  are  the  peon  proletariat  of  old  Mexico,  a 
type  of  the  world's  canaille. 

Poor,  twentieth  century  serfs  these  peons,  help- 
less, ambitionless,  yet  not  soulless. 

They  are  happy  because  they  have  never  known 
different  environment  nor  lot  in  life.  Give  them  land 
for  their  very  own,  and  they  would  quickly  hunt  the 
shady  spots,  there  to  roll  innumerable  cigarettes  while 
patiently  awaiting  upon  their  particular  patron  Saint, 
"Our  Gracious  Lady  of  Guadalupe,"  to  work  the  mir- 
acle and  grow  their  crops. 

Give  them  money  for  their  very  own,  and  the  vil- 
lage saloonkeeper  would  soon  be  riding  behind  his  own 
chauffeur,  while  the  poor  peon  again  sought  out  the 
shady  spots  to  sleep  off  a  protracted  debauch,  and 
when  he  awakened  at  last,  roll  innumerable  cigarettes 
as  he  asked  himself,  "What  next,  I  wonder?" 


CHAPTER  XI 

MASONRY:    ITS  PHILOSOPHY  AND  INFLUENCE 

IN  WARTIME 

Years  ago  one  of  our  greatest  Masonic  writers  de- 
clared :  "Masonry^  is  the  great  Peace  Society  of  the 
World.  Wherever  it  exists,  it  struggles  to  prevent  in- 
ternational difficulties  and  disputes,  and  to  bind  Re- 
publics, Kingdoms  and  Empires  together  in  one  great 
band  of  peace  and  amity." 

The  general  laity  little  appreciate  the  boundless 
influence  for  good  exerted  in  troublous  wartimes  by 
the  Order  whose  keynote  is  silence  and  unostentation, 
whose  basic  foundation  is  cemented  by  the  principles 
of  brotherly  love,  relief  and  truth,  of  liberty,  frater- 
nity and  equality.  The  Masonic  Order  is  a  vast  army 
of  men  bound  together  by  the  mystic  tie  of  brother- 
hood universal. 

In  the  United  States  it  numbers  over  two  million 
members,  and  has  fifty-one  sovereign  Grand  Lodges. 
Of  these,  the  smallest  jurisdiction  is  the  District  of 
Columbia  comprising  sixty  square  miles  and  embrac- 
ing thirty  lodges  with  more  than  ten  thousand  mem- 
bers. 

The  Grand  Lodge  of  England  controls  2578  lodges 
with  a  total  membership  of  234,333.  Eight  Grand 
Lodges  of  Canada  dominate  94,359.  In  Germany  are 
eight  Masonic  sovereign  jurisdictions,  in  South  Amer- 
ica six,  in  Australia  six,  in  India  five,  in  the  West 
Indies  three,  in  Mexico,  Liberia,  Egypt,  Central  Amer- 
ica, Hungary  and  Servia,  one  each.     In  France  and 


150  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Italy  Freemasonry  is  exceptionally  powerful,  as  also 
in  Switzerland,  Holland,  Belgium  and  Portugal. 

To  the  lot  of  the  Freemasons  of  the  United  States 
it  has  fallen  to  send  first  aid  to  their  distressed  breth- 
ren abroad.  Right  nobly  they  have  responded  to  the 
call.  Through  the  United  States  Masonic  War  Relief 
Association,  with  headquarters  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  a 
most  substantial  sum  has  been  raised  and  liberal  dis- 
bursements made  respectively  to  the  Grand  Priory, 
Knights  Templar  of  England  and  Wales,  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Masons  of  Ireland,  Masonic  Relief  Fund  of 
Scotland,  Grand  Lodge  of  Masons  in  Germany,  Su- 
preme Council  of  Scottish  Rite  in  Luxembourg,  Grand 
Lodge  of  Masons  in  Switzerland,  Grand  Lodge  and  Su- 
preme Council  in  Belgium,  and  the  London  Branch  of 
the  Masonic  War  Relief  Association  of  the  United 
States. 

It  is  hoped  and  planned  to  expend  in  like  manner 
|100,000,  by  the  end  of  the  current  year.  At  this  mo- 
ment measures  are  under  way  to  make  ample  pro- 
vision for  veteran  distressed  Master  Masons,  their 
widows  and  orphans,  whose  need  will  be  especially 
pressing  in  the  aftermath  of  war. 

At  no  time  in  the  world's  history  has  the  Univer- 
sal Brotherhood  failed  to  answer  the  crying  need  of 
humanity;  never  has  it  shirked  the  call  of  country 
when  the  cause  was  just,  nor  failed  to  raise  its  mighty 
voice  in  protest  at  a  time  when  to  draw  the  sword 
against  a  weaker  enemy,  could  only  mean  the  staining 
of  a  nation's  flag  with  lasting  dishonor. 

American  Masonic  History  is  especially  interest- 
ing. How  many  people  today  know  that  the  Boston 
Tea  Party  had  its  inchoation  in  a  Masonic  lodge  jroom, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  151 

that  the  participants  in  the  history  making  raid  upon 
British  ships  in  Boston  harbor  were  all  Masons?  Of 
all  the  minute  men  answering  the  summons  of  Paul 
Revere,  many  were  brothers  of  his  Masonic  lodge. 
General  Warren  who  fought  and  fell  at  Bunker  Hill, 
was  a  Worshipful  Master.  Our  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence was  the  handiwork  of  two  great  Masons, 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  Thomas 
Paine.  Of  the  fifty-six  signing  it,  two-thirds,  it  is  said, 
were  Masons,  among  them  Charles  Thomson,  Rev. 
John  Witherspoon,  Captain  William  Whipple  and  the 
entire  Virginia  delegation.  Peyton  Randolph,  the 
President  and  most  of  the  First  Continental  Congress, 
were  Freemasons. 

Every  army  of  civilization  has  its  Masonic  lodges. 
Among  members  of  the  American  military  lodges 
were  Washington,  Light  Horse  Harry  Lee,  Gens.  War- 
ren, Israel  Putnum,  Mad  Anthony  Wayne,  Baron  de 
Kalb,  Lafayette,  Andrew  Jackson,  Sam  Houston,  Step- 
hen Austin,  David  Crockett,  Worth,  Quitman,  Mc-Clel- 
lan,  Hancock,  Banks,  Rawlins,  McCiernand,  Logan, 
Pickett,  Robert  Anderson,  Garfield,  McKinley,  Albert 
Pike,  Nelson  A.  Miles,  and  John  Corson  Smith. 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  to  reflect  exactly  what 
in  Masonry  has  attracted  and  sustained  the  unflagging, 
lifelong  interest,  devotion  and  enthusiasm  of  Ameri- 
cans like  Washington,  John  Paul  Jones,  Franklin, 
Monroe,  Andrew  Johnson,  Garfield,  McKinley,  Roose- 
velt, Thomas  Marshall,  Bryan,  and  a  legion  more  of 
our  most  representative  men  of  affairs? 

The  whole  Philosophy  of  Masonry  is  uplifting  and 
inspiring.  Nowhere  else  can  be  found  a  more  bitter 
arraignment  of  the  horrors  and  futility  of  war,  than 


152  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

in  the  Masonic  teachings.  The  question  has  been  asked 
frequently  of  late:  "What  is  the  attitude  of  Freema- 
sonry towards  the  World  Powers  at  present  engaged 
in  a  titanic  struggle  to  prove  the  right  of  might?" 

I  think  it  may  best  be  answered  by  the  beautiful 
paragraphs  scattered  through  that  voluminous  mas- 
terpiece by  Albert  Pike,  "Morals  and  Dogmas  of  the 
Scottish  Rite."  They  apply  as  forcibly  today  as  when 
first  offered  to  his  Masonic  brethren  a  generation  ago. 
Read  with  me: 

"Wars  like  thunderstorms  are  necessary  to  purify  the  stag- 
nant atmosphere.  War  is  not  a  demon  without  remorse  or  re- 
ward.    It  restores  the  brotherhood  in  letters  of  fire." 

"When  men  are  seated  in  their  pleasant  places,  sunken  in 
ease  and  indolence,  with  Pretence  and  Incapacity  and  Little- 
ness usurping  all  the  high  places  of  State,  war  is  a  baptism  of 
blood  and  fire,  by  which  alone  they  can  be  renovated.  It  is 
the  hurricane  that  brings  the  elemental  equilibrium,  the  con- 
cord of  Power  and  Wisdom.  So  long  as  these  continue  ob- 
stinately divorced,  it  will  continue  to  chasten." 

"In  the  mutual  appeal  of  Nations  to  God,  there  is  the  ac- 
knowledgement of  His  might.  It  lights  the  beacons  of  Faith 
a^d  Freedom,  and  heats  the  furnace  through  which  the  earnest 
and  loyal  pass  to  immortal  glory.  There  is  in  war  the  doom 
of  defeat,  the  quenchless  sense  of  duty,  the  stirring  sense  of 
honor,  the  measureless  sacrifice  of  devotedness,  and  the  incense 
of  success.  Even  in  the  flame  and  smoke  of  battle,  the  Mason 
discovers  his  brother,  and  fulfills  the  sacred  obligations  of  Fra- 
ternity. *  *  *  The  nation  that  grasps  at  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  cannot  but  become  selfish,  calculating,  dead  to  the 
noblest  impulses  and  sympathies  which  ought  to  actuate 
States." 

"It  will  submit  to  insults  that  wound  its  honor,  rather  than 
endanger  its  commercial  interests  by  war;  while  to  subserve 
those  interests  it  will  wage  unjust  war  on  false  or  frivolous 
pretexts,  its  free  people  cheerfully  allying  themselves  with 
despots  to  crush  a  commercial  rival  that  has  dared  exile  its 
kings,  and  elect  its  own  ruler." 

"A  war  for  a  great  principle  ennobles  a  nation." 

"A  war  for  commercial  supremacy,  upon  some  shallow  pre- 
text is  despicable,  and  more  than  aught  else  demonstrates  to 
what  immeasurable  depths  of  baseness,  men  and  nations  can 
descend." 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  153 


"Who  can  sum  up  the  horrors  and  woes  accumulated  in  a 
single  War?" 

"Masonry  is  not  dazzled  with  all  its  pomp,  and  circum- 
stance, all  its  glitter  and  glory." 

"War  comes  with  its  bloody  hands  into  our  very  dwellings. 
It  takes  from  ten  thousand  homes  those  who  lived  there  in 
peace  and  comfort,  held  by  the  tender  ties  of  family  and  kin- 
dred. It  drags  them  away  to  die  untended,  of  fever,  of  ex- 
posure, in  infectious  climes,  or  to  be  hacked,  torn  and  mangled 
in  the  fierce  fight;  to  fall  on  the  gory  field,  to  rise  no  more, 
or  to  be  borne  away  in  awful  agony  to  noisome  and  horrid  hos- 
pitals." 

"The  groans  of  the  battlefield  are  echoed  in  sighs  of  be- 
reavement from  thousands  of  desolated  hearths." 

"There  is  a  skeleton  in  every  house,  a  vacant  chair  at 
every  table." 

"Returning,  the  soldier  brings  worse  sorrow  to  his  home, 
the  infection  which  he  has  caught  of  camp  vices." 

"The  country  is  demoralized.  The  national  mind  is  brought 
down  from  the  noble  interchange  of  kind  offices  with  another 
people,  to  wrath  and  revenge  and  base  pride,  and  the  habit  of 
measuring  brute  strength  against  brute  strength  in  battle,." 

"Treasures  are  expended  that  would  suffice  to  build  ten 
thousand  churches,  hospitals  and  universities  or  rib  and  tie  to- 
gether a  continent  with  rails  of  iron.  If  that  treasure  were 
sunk  in  the  sea,  it  would  be  calamity  enough:  but  it  is  put 
to  worse  use,  for  it  is  expended  in  cutting  into  the  veins  and 
arteries  of  human  life,  until  the  earth  is  deluged  with  a  sea 
of  blood." 

"Each  age  re-enacts  the  crimes  as  well  as  the  follies  of  its 
)redecessors,  and  still  war  licenses  outrage  and  turns  fruitful 
ands  into  deserts,  and  God  is  thanked  in  the  Churches  for 
>loocly  butcheries,  and  the  remorseless  devastators,  even  when 
swollen  by  plunder,  are  crowned  with  laurels  and  receive  ova- 
tions." 

"There  has  not  been  a  moment  since  men  divided  into 
Tribes,  when  all  the  world  was  at  peace.  Always  men  have 
been  engaged  in  murdering  each  other  somewhere.  Always  the 
armies  have  lived  by  the  toil  of  the  husbandman,  and  war  has 
exhausted  the  resources,  wasted  the  energies,  and  ended  the 
prosperity  of  Nations." 

"Now  it  loads  unborn  posterity  with  crushing  debt,  mort- 
gages all  estates  and  brings  upon  states  the  shame  and  infamy 
of  dishonest  repudiation." 

"At  times  the  baleful  fires  of  war  light  up  half  a  continent 
at  once.  At  times,  the  storm  revolving,  howls  over  small  areas 
only.  At  times,  its  lights  are  seen  like  the  old  beacon  fires  on 
the  hills,  belting  the  whole  globe." 


154  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 


"No  sea  but  hears  the  roar  of  cannon,  no  river  but  runs 
red  with  blood:  no  plain  but  shakes,  trampled  by  the  hoofs  of 
charging  squadrons:  no  field  but  is  fertilized  by  the  blood  of 
the  dead:  and  everywhere  man  slays,  the  vulture  gorges,  and 
the  wolf  howls  in  the  ear  of  the  dying  soldier." 

"No  city  is  not  tortured  by  shot  and  shell,  and  no  people 
fail  to  enact  the  horrid  blasphemy  of  thanking  a  God  of  love, 
for  victories  and  carnage." 

"Te  Deums  are  still  sung  for  the  Eve  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
and  the  Sicilian  Vespers." 

"Man's  ingenuity  is  racked,  and  all  his  inventive  powers 
are  tasked,  to  fabricate  the  infernal  enginery  of  destruction,  by 
which  human  bodies  may  be  the  more  expeditiously  and  effectu- 
ally crushed,  shattered,  torn  and  mangled." 

"MASONRY  ALONE  preaches  Toleration,  the  right  of 
man  to  abide  by  his  own  faith,  the  right  of  all  States  to  govern 
themselves.  It  rebukes  alike  the  monarch  who  seeks  to  extend 
his  dominions  by  conquest,  the  Church  that  claims  the  right  to 
repress  heresy  by  fire  and  steel,  and  the  confederation  of  States 
that  insist  on  maintaining  a  union  by  force  and  restoring  broth- 
erhood by  slaughter  and  subjugation." 

In  every  war  has  been  in  evidence  the  potency  of 
Freemasonry  as  an  ameliorating  influence  in  the  hor- 
rors all  abounding.  Masonry  was  especially  dominant 
during  the  American  Civil  War  and  self-sacrifices  be- 
tween brethren  of  the  blue  and  brethren  of  the  gray 
in  behalf  of  each  other  were  of  almost  daily  occur- 
rence. It  was  a  Grand  Lodge  in  South  Carolina  which 
first  voiced  the  policy  its  brethren  should  pursue  to- 
wards brother  Masons  of  the  North,  as  early  as  1862, 
when  the  strife  was  young.  A  Grand  Lodge  of  Maine 
approved  the  encyclical  almost  word  for  word,  and  the 
beneficent  Masonic  principles  were  put  into  actual 
practice  by  Grand  Lodges  of  the  North  and  South  al- 
most simultaneously.  Among  the  other  things  Masons 
were  ordered: 

"Be  faithful  towards  all  and  singular  the  brethren 
whether  these  be  met  in  lodges  dedicate,  or  only 
known  to  you  by  divers  means  in  darkness  or  light, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  155 

in  health  or  sickness,  in  wealth  or  want,  in  peril  or 
safety,  in  prison,  escape  or  freedom,  in  charity  or  evil- 
mindedness,  armed  or  unarmed,  friend  or  seeming  foe, 
and  as  to  these,  most  certainly  as  towards  brethren, 
when  Masonically  met  on,  by  or  with  all  due  and  regu- 
lar intercommunication  and  intelligence.  *  *  *  Let  us 
not  hear  among  us  that  there  is  war,  that  strife  and 
dissension  prevail,  as  Masons  it  concerns  us  not." 

How  different  this  fraternal  stand  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  a  state  at  war,  in  1862,  and  that  this  year 
manifested  by  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Germany  which 
has  issued  an  open  announcement  to  the  world  from 
its  headquarters  in  Berlin,  suspending  all  fraternal  re- 
lations with  the  Masons  of  France,  Italy,  and  England 
during  the  continuance  of  this  war. 

Despite  all  this,  the  international  Masonic  press 
is  repeatedly  filled  with  circumstantial  and  convincing 
proof-positive  that  German  Freemasons  have  not  at 
all  forgotten  their  Masonic  obligations,  and  many 
heroic  deeds  are  narrated  as  performed  by  soldier  Ma- 
sons of  the  several  belligerents  to  help  a  worthy 
brother  in  the  ranks  of  the  enemy. 

At  no  time  in  history  has  Freemasonry  played  a 
treasonable  part  against  the  country  which  gave  it 
shelter.  In  the  eighteenth  century  the  Grand  Master 
of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  England,  the  Duke  of  Wharton, 
a  partisan  of  the  Stuart  Pretenders,  endeavored  to  en- 
list the  Masonic  machinery  of  England  against  the 
established  Government.  In  spite  of  his  magnetic 
personality,  and  unusual  popularity,  the  Grand  Master 
could  not  prevail  upon  his  Masonic  brethren  to  have  a 
hand  in  his  nefarious  plot.  In  disgrace,  h3  surrendered 


156  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

his  high  office  and  fled  to  unhappy  exile  on  the  conti- 
nent. 

As  a  reward  for  their  unswerving  loyalty  in  times 
of  cunning  conspiracy,  and  revolution,  the  Freema- 
sons of  England  today  are  the  only  Secret  Society  in 
Great  Britain  permitted  by  special  grant  and  act  of 
Parliament. 

It  may  be  that  the  human  race  is  not  yet  ready 
for  the  practical  application  of  the  Gentle  Philosophy 
of  Freemasonry. 

One  man  in  the  present  century  tried  to  govern 
his  administrative  functions  as  President  of  a  Repub- 
lic on  Masonic  Ideals.  He  fell  a  martyr  to  the  passions 
of  blind  bigotry  and  darkness.  I  refer  to  Francisco 
Madero,  Jr.,  for  a  brief  period  President  of  Mexico. 
This  college-bred  man  of  fine  old  Mexican  ancestry  is 
an  everpresent  obstacle  to  the  recognition  by  our  coun- 
try of  any  chieftain  in  any  way  identified  with  the 
politico-religious  sect  responsible  for  his  assassination. 
Convincing  proof  may  be  found  in  "An  Open  Letter 
to  American  Masons"  in  the  New  Age  Magazine  for 
August,  1915,  by  a  high  Mexican  Masonic  Brother. 
This  same  journal  of  the  Scottish  Rite,  in  its  issue  of 
March,  1913,  had  a  touching  tribute  to  Madero  by 
Brother  George  Fleming  Moore,  33°.    In  it  he  says: 

"The  murder  of  Francisco  Madero,  late  President 
of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  seems  to  me  the  foulest  and 
blackest  crime  of  the  age.  Not  very  long  ago,  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  him  which  clearly  proved  his  sin- 
cere desire  to  guide  his  life  and  actions,  public  and 
private,  by  those  principles  of  equity  and  justice  which 
make  for  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  individ- 
ual and  the  race. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  157 

"He  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  sacrifice :  that  sac- 
rifices for  the  sake  of  the  truth,  or  for  his  fellowmen 
would  bring  its  reward  either  in  this  or  in  some  other 
life. 

"He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Supreme  Coun- 
cil A.  &  A.  Scottish  Rite  of  Freemasonry  of  Mexico, 
and  was  a  MASON.  On  one  occasion  while  addressing 
his  lodge,  he  said:  'Brethren,  this  ritual  of  ours  is 
very  beautiful,  and  we  teach  high  ideals,  but  what  are 
we,  you  and  I,  doing  to  carry  out  these  ideals  and 
teachings  into  expression  in  our  own  lives,  and  in  the 
affairs  of  our  country?' 

"He  was  called  weak  and  inefficient  because  he 
would  not  shoot  men  merely  because  they  crossed  his 
pathway  to  power. 

"He  was  laughed  at  as  an  Idealist  because  he 
hoped  to  lead  his  country  to  a  place  of  honor  and 
power  without  ruining  it  by  military  despotism. 

"He  has  fallen  a  victim  to  his  ideals  of  truth  and 
justice  and  the  evil  wiles  of  false  friends,  for  no  man 
ever  reproached  him  with  vices  until  after  he  became 
a  prisoner  and  in  the  power  of  the  men  he  had  trusted. 

"If  his  death  shall  teach  men  that  nations  must 
not  let  such  crimes  go  unrebuked,  and  shall  render 
them  impossible  in  the  future,  whether  through  in- 
tervention or  by  other  modes,  then  Francisco  Madero's 
murder  will  bear  good  fruit,  and  we  verily  believe,  he 
would  have  sacrificed  his  life  to  secure  that  great  re- 
sult." 

Can  we  not  hope  that  before  the  present  Carnival 
of  Blood  is  carried  to  more  sickening  extremes,  the 
Sovereign  Masters  of  the  World's  Grand  Lodges  will 
rally  the  Sons  of  Light  and  Peace  to  making  a  prac- 


158  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

tical  protest  against  the  insensate  madmen  glutted 
with  power  and  relying  upon  the  obsolete  doctrine  of 
Divine  Right,  to  send  their  subservient  subjects  to 
death?    Stranger  things  have  happened. 

In  any  event,  when  the  last  shot  has  been  fired 
in  the  present  world  war,  when  the  representatives  of 
the  exhausted  powers  assemble  to  determine  the  read- 
justment of  territories,  the  payment  of  indemnities, 
and  the  signing  of  Treaties,  *  *  *  the  Power  behind 
the  Pen  which  drafts  documents  of  so  vital  an  in- 
terest to  posterity,  will  unquestionably  be  that  Ma- 
sonry which  has  fought  the  good  fight  through  the 
ages,  that  Masonry  which  will  insist  that  War  must 
end  forever,  so  that  there  may  be  cemented  more  firm- 
ly hereafter,  Republics,  Kingdoms  and  Empires,  *  *  * 
if  these  two  latter  still  exist,  *  *  *  in  one  great  band 
of  Peace  and  Amity. 


CHAPTER  XII 

1— MODERN  MASONRY:  1717  AND  1917 

By  Bro.  John  Lewin  McLeish,  Ohio 

Sunday,  June  24,  1917,  St.  John  Baptist's  Day,  is 
the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  Speculative  or  Mod- 
ern Masonry.  Then  was  established  the  Mother  of  all 
Grand  Lodges  inchoating  an  invisible  empire  which  to- 
day girdles  the  globe.  It  was  the  consummation  of  an 
evolution  in  the  greatest  of  the  world's  brotherhoods 
which  had  had  genesis  long  before.  The  Speculative 
or  Scholar  Masons  then  relegated  to  the  background 
the  old  Operative  or  Practical  Masons,  who  for  genera- 
tions had  transmitted  among  themselves  by  word  of 
mouth,  under  pledge  of  secrecy,  the  quaint,  complex 
and  curious  philosophy  and  secret  doctrine  of  Freema- 
sonry inherited  from  the  Cathedral  Builders  of  me- 
diaeval days,  who  themselves  had  it  from  the  Coma- 
cines,  the  lineal  descendants  of  the  old  Collegia  Ro- 
mana,  and  so  on  back  into  the  dim  dead  past  of  Hittite 
predominance,  if  we  may  believe  the  claims  of  Masonic 
Archeologists  and  Historians — Gould,  Hughan,  Ra- 
venscroft,  Findel,  Rylands,  Belzoni  and  others. 

Since  England  gave  birth  to  the  Mother  of  all 
Grand  Lodges,  it  is  there  we  must  turn  for  the  history 
of  a  transition  which  in  the  passing  of  the  centuries 
has  made  Masonry  a  World  Force. 

In  England,  during  the  last  years  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  there  was  upon  the  part  of  the  Clergy 
both  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic,  a  marked  ten- 


160  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

dency  to  play  politics.  Rather  reluctantly  the  domi- 
nant hierarchy,  which  was  the  Anglican  (Episcopali- 
an), had  acquiesced  in  the  accession  of  James  II  to 
the  throne.  Their  hesitancy  seemed  justified,  when  in 
1687  James  issued  a  Religious  Edict  affording  ample 
opportunities  for  Catholic  activities  throughout  his 
kingdom.  In  consequence,  the  Anglicans  declared 
against  the  House  of  Stuart  successfully. 

Protestant  William  of  Orange,  the  successor  of 
James,  contributed  another  shock  to  the  Anglicans. 
Instead  of  rewarding  them  by  making  their  denomina- 
tion the  official  Religion  of  State,  he  proclaimed  uni- 
versal religious  tolerance.  Under  his  new  edict,  it  be- 
came possible  for  a  new  element  to  enter — the  Dutch 
Presbyterians, — so  forming  a  hypothenuse  for  a  Cler- 
ical Triangle  of  Dissension — Anglicans,  Roman  Cath- 
olics and  Dutch  Presbyterians.  Each  wished  the  Na- 
tional Supremacy  in  England.  All  contributed  to  a 
verbal  warfare  and  indulged  in  intrigues  of  a  most 
unchurchly  character. 

Now  while  these  Churchmen  quarreled  among 
themselves,  the  plain  people  who  made  up  the  back- 
bone of  the  Nation  were  thinking.  Quite  disgusted 
with  the  unreasonable  assumptions  of  Clergy  of  all 
Creeds,  reluctantly  concluding  that  their  ghostly  ad- 
visers were  all  dogma-bound,  narrow,  selfish  and  top- 
heavy  with  pride,  these  plain  people  needed  only  King 
William's  Edict  of  1695  permitting  freedom  of  the 
press,  to  loose  their  tongues  and  give  the  Intellectuals 
free  play. 

A  seed  had  been  sown.  The  English  people  bagan 
to  find  themselves.  National  life  assumed  a  more 
moral  tone.    Superficiality  and  shams  gave  way  to  an 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  161 

actual  practice  of  moral  and  social  virtues.  The  plain 
people  exerted  themselves  to  relegate  into  fitting  ob- 
livion the  memory  of  the  licentiousness  which  had 
characterized  national  life  under  Charles  II  and  James 
II,  the  predecessors  of  their  new  monarch.  An  Age  of 
Frivolity  was  supplanted  by  an  Age  of  Self-Respect. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Times  found  ready  expression 
through  the  journalists  and  pamphleteers  and  those 
convivial  conversationalists  who  met  men  of  all  classes 
in  the  London  Taverns,  "the  busy  man's  recreation, 
the  idle  man's  business,  the  melancholy  man's  sanc- 
tuary, and  the  stranger's  welcome;  the  broachers  of 
more  news  than  hogsheads,  more  jest  than  news." 

Masonic  thought  of  the  day  found  its  outlet 
through  Richard  Steele's  "Tatler,"  Jonathan  Swift's 
Satires,  and  Dr.  Desaguilier's  Natural  Philosophy. 
Perhaps  Joseph  Addison  crystallized  conditions  then 
existent  in  his  famous  sentence:  "We  have  just 
enough  religion  to  make  us  hate,  but  not  enough  to 
make  us  love  one  another." 

It  was  as  though  to  answer  that  very  need  that 
the  "Gentle  Philosophic  of  Masonry,"  whose  animat- 
ing spirit  is  brotherly  love,  took  on  a  sudden  impetus 
and  reincarnated  as  a  Living  Force  in  National  Life 
through  the  Great  Revival  of  1717.  In  the  Masonic 
Lodges  of  1700  were  to  be  found  men  of  all  Creeds 
and  all  Religious  Sects.  Says  Findel,  a  German  Ma- 
sonic historian: 

"Originating  from  the  Fraternity  of  Operative  Masons,  the 
Craft  has  borrowed  its  emblems  and  symbols  from  the  Build- 
ing Corporations  to  impart  to  its  members  moral  truths  and 
the  rules  of  the  Royal  Art.  *  *  *  Freemasonry  as  it  is  under- 
stood at  the  present  day,  dawned  into  existence.  Retaining  the 
spirit  of  the  Ancient  Brotherhood,  their  fundamental  laws  and 
their    traditional    customs,    yet    all  were  united  in  relegating 


362  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 


Architecture  and  Operative  Masonry  to  the  station  to  which 
they  belonged,  the  customary  technical  expressions  which  are 
excellently  well  suited  to  the  Symbolic  Architecture  of  the 
Temple,  were  retained  but  figuratively  withal,  bearing  a  higher 
significance." 

The  Report  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  First  Grand 
Lodge  of  England  does  not  occupy  much  space.  An 
official  account  written  by  Dr.  James  Anderson  says: 

"1717 — King  George  I.  entered  London  most  magnificently 
on  Sept.  20,  1714,  and  after  the  rebellion  was  over,  A.  D.  1716, 
the  few  Lodges  at  London,  finding  themselves  neglected  by  Sii 
Christopher  Wren,  thought  fit  to  cement  under  a  Grand  Master 
as  the  Center  of  Union  and  Harmony,  viz.  the  Lodges  that  met, 

"1.  At  the  Goose  and  Gridiron  Ale-House,  in  St.  Paul's 
Churchyard. 

"2.  At  the  Crown  Ale-House  in  Parker's  Lane,  near 
Drury  Lane. 

"3.  At  the  Apple  Tree  Tavern  in  Charles  St.,  Convent 
Garden. 

"4.  At  the  Rummer  and  Grapes  Tavern  in  Channel  Row, 
Westminster. 

"They  and  some  old  Brothers  met  at  th*  said  Apple-Tree 
and  having  put  into  the  Chair  the  Oldest  Master  (now  the  Mas- 
ter of  a  Lodge)  they  constituted  themselves  a  Grand  Lodge 
pro  tempore. 

"On  St.  John  Baptist's  Day,  in  the  third  year  of  King 
George,  A.  D.  1717,  the  Assembly  and  Feast  of  the  Free  and 
Accepted  Masons  was  held  at  the  foresaid  Goose  and  Gridiron 
Ale-House. 

"Before  dinner,  the  Oldest  Master  Mason  (now  the  Master 
of  a  Lodge),  in  the  Chair,  proposed  a  list  of  proper  candidates: 
and  the  Brethren  by  a  Majority  of  Hands  elected, 

Mr.  Anthony  Sayre,  Gentleman,  Grand  Master  of  Masons, 

Mr.  Jacob  Lamball,  Carpenter, 

Capt.  Joseph  Elliot,  Grand  Wardens, 
who  being  invested  with  the  Badges  of  Office,  and  Power,  by 
the  said  Oldest  Master,  and  installed,  was  duly  congratulated 
by  the  Assembly,  who  pay'd  him  the  Homage." 

While  rather  meager  in  detail,  this  account  is 
sufficient  to  give  us  a  mental  concept  of  an  event  of 
unusual  importance  to  Masons,  inasmuch  as  it  paved 
the  way  for  changes  destined  intimately  to  affect  the 
nature  of  the  most  influential  of  the  World's  Secret 


Societies  for  years  to  come. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  163 

■    ■■II.    I..  I         -■■>!■■ ■— IIW-  !■—    ■         ■-■■■■—■■!.       I  ll.ll-T ■■!■■■!—!  ■  !■!■■  .I—.—    .1. |  ,.       .         ■  ■      ■■■,■■■!■  ■* 

We  can  conjure  up  an  imaginative  picture  of  the 
scene,  dominated  by  such  forceful  personalities  as  Ed- 
ward Strong,  Anthony  Sayer,  George  Payne,  John, 
Duke  of  Montagu,  Dr.  Desaguiliers,  Thomas  Morrice 
and  other  prominent  men  of  that  period,  some  des- 
tined to  become  Grand  Masters.  We  can  conceive  in 
imagination  the  solemn  procession  of  those  four  old 
Lodges  through  the  streets  of  London,  the  rich  and 
elegant  attire  of  the  Speculative  Masons  showing  no 
more  resplendently  than  the  plainer,  simpler  garb  of 
the  old  Operatives,  because  of  the  long,  white  Aprons 
then  affected  by  the  Craft.  Nor  must  we  forget  the 
Feast,  some  idea  of  which  we  may  gather  from  a  Ma- 
sonic Menu  recorded  by  the  historian  Conder.  Doubt- 
less there  were : 

"9  dishes  of  fowl,  three  in  a  dish. 
"2  roasted  and  1  boyled  with  oyster  sauce. 
"3  Yorkshire  Hams. 
"6  Geese,  two  in  a  dish. 
"3  Turkeys. 
"3  Chines. 

"3  Dishes  of  Tongues  and  Udders. 
"6  Dishes  of  Tarts. 

"Wine:— 12    Gallons    of    Red    Port.     4  Gallons  of  White 
Port." 

And  need  we  add  the  self-satisfied  testimony  of 
one  who  attended  one  of  these  early  Grand  Lodge  Ban- 
quets ? 

"We  had  a  good  dinner,  and  to  their  eternal  hon- 
our, the  brotherhood  laid  about  them  very  valiantly." 

It  is  known  that  a  caucus  had  previously  pre- 
pared the  several  transactions  requisite  to  afford  the 
Speculative  element  complete  control  of  this  and  suc- 
ceeding Grand  Lodges.  It  was  realized  by  the  deeper 
thinkers  like  Payne,  Desaguiliers  and  Anderson,  that 
many  changes  must  be  wrought  to  modernize  the  ma- 


164  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

chinery  of  a  very  potent  force  in  national  life.  Through 
them  it  was  arranged  for  a  complete  overhauling  of 
the  Old  Constitutions  which  had  governed  the  Opera- 
tive Lodges  of  Freemasons  for  centuries.  This  was  ac- 
cordingly done  at  the  next  session. 

Dr.  Anderson  was  ordered  to  "digest  the  Old 
Charges  in  a  new  and  better  manner,"  a  task  in  which 
he  received  valuable  assistance  from  both  Payne  and 
Desaguiliers.  At  the  same  time,  many  "scrupulous 
Old  Brothers"  burned  their  ancient  mss.,  and  copies 
of  the  Gothic  Constitutions  of  old  Operative  Masonry, 
through  excess  of  zeal.  Their  idea  was  that  the  Se- 
crets of  Freemasonry  might  not  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  Profane,  as  all  were  and  still  are  styled  who  are 
not  Masons. 

When  Dr.  Anderson  reported  back  to  Grand 
Lodge  the  fruits  of  his  labors,  fourteen  brethren  au- 
dited and  approved  them.  His  handiwork  known  as 
the  Constitution  of  1723,  insofar  as  it  materially 
widened  the  horizon  of  Freemasonry,  can  be  consid- 
ered as  the  most  important  result  of  the  Great  Re- 
vival of  1717.  It  was  the  dividing  line  between  An- 
cient and  Modern  Masonry — the  Operative  and  the 
Speculative.  Its  most  striking  feature  was  to  forever- 
more  make  Masonry  and  Religious  Tolerance  synony- 
mous. In  consequence,  since  1717  Masonry  has  had 
no  quarrel  with  any  religion  of  the  world.  In  the  old 
Operative  Charges  there  was  a  specific  mandate  to 
every  Mason  "in  every  country  to  be  of  the  Religion 
of  that  country  wherever  it  was."  In  this  New  Con- 
stitution, all  Masons  were  admonished  "to  keep  the 
Religion  in  which  all  men  agree,  leaving  their  particu- 
lar opinions  to  themselves." 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  165 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  Speculative 
membership  upon  securing  control  of  the  Order, 
wished  to  disarm  once  and  forever  all  opposition  from 
any  Church  or  Hierarchy.  They  aimed  to  promote 
that  Harmony,  which  is  the  strength  and  support  of 
all  institutions,  especially  Masonry. 

From  recent  bitter  experience  in  England,  they 
had  witnessed  the  destructive  influence  upon  a  Nation 
of  a  Quarrel  of  Creeds.  They  had  seen  Anglican,  Ro- 
man Catholic,  and  Presbyterian  at  swords'  points,  to 
the  great  peril  of  Civil  Government,  the  toppling  of  a 
Dynasty  and  the  unstable  seat  of  its  successor.  They 
hoped  that  by  playing  up  to  no  particular  Creed,  that 
they  might  perpetually  disarm  the  antagonism  of  all. 
Another  incentive  impelling  the  founders  of  Modern 
Masonry  to  substitute  Monotheism  for  Christianity  as 
a  requirement  for  admission  behind  the  exclusive 
doors  of  the  Order,  was  to  make  eligible  as  brothers 
men  of  all  nations,  a  Universal  Belief  in  the  Supreme 
Being,  the  sine  qua  non  of  Modern  Masonry,  per  se 
eliminating  Atheists  and  Irreligious. 

Unfortunately,  if  the  Old  Landmarks  or  essence 
of  Masonry  were  to  be  retained,  it  was  not  then,  and 
is  not  now  possible  to  make  sufficient  eliminations,  to 
make  our  Institution  persona  grata  to  one  of  the  most 
powerful  of  the  World  Religions.  That  great  cardinal 
landmark  of  Masonry — SECRECY — sets  up  an  insur- 
mountable barrier  to  a  cardinal  landmark  of  the  Cath- 
olic Church— the  CONFESSIONAL.  No  true  Mason 
can  kneel  at  the  Altar  of  Masonry,  and  take  the  most 
solemn  and  binding  obligations  evolved  by  man,  and 
even  pretend  to  answer  the  possible  questions  of  the 
priest  at  the  Confessional. 


166  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Bro.  Count  Goblet  D'Alviella  adds  three  other  rea- 
sons why  Masonry  is  unavoidably  condemned  by  the 
Catholic  Church,  viz:  "(1)  in  its  origin:  the  discard- 
ing of  the  obedience  to  the  Church ;  (2)  in  its  purpose : 
the  promotion  of  benevolence  and  morality  independ- 
ent of  religious  differences;  (3)  in  its  pantheism  and 
naturalism."  This  probably  best  explains  the  early 
formal  excommunications  of  Masonry  by  the  Bulls  of 
Clement  XVI  in  1738,  and  Benoit  XIV  in  1751. 

Of  course,  all  well-informed  Catholics  know  and 
admit  that  Masonry  in  the  United  States,  Great  Brit- 
ain and  Germany  at  least,  is  made  up  of  tolerant,  rep- 
resentative, law-abiding  citizens,  "picked  men,"  quar- 
reling with  no  religion,  nor  discussing  Catholicism  in 
their  lodges,  much  less  seeking  its  overthrow.  As  is 
but  natural,  Masons  are  staunch  supporters  of  one 
particular  institution  essential  to  that  patriotism 
which  is  part  of  their  philosophy — the  Public  School. 
Aside  from  this  little  hobby,  all  their  energies  are 
given  to  foster  a  spirit  of  brotherhood  among  men, 
peace  among  the  nations,  and,  greatest  of  all,  Sweet 
Charity.  The  doors  of  Masonry  are  as  open  to  a 
worthy  Catholic,  as  to  a  good  Mohammedan,  nor  is  it 
the  fault  of  Masonry  that  the  priests  say  "Nay!" 

Our  Latin  brethren  of  various  countries,  like 
France,  Italy,  South  America  and  Mexico,  are  often 
held  up  to  us  as  fomentors  of  revolution,  and  active 
participants  in  politics.  There  is  a  reason.  Let  D'Al- 
viella explain  it.  "It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  wher- 
ever the  Roman  Church  predominates,  Freemasonry 
has  to  fight  for  its  very  life,  and  Masons  as  such,  have 
to  protect  themselves  against  persecutions,  which 
threaten  their  private  no  less  than  their  public  life. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  167 

This  ought  to  be  kept  in  sight,  when  one  sits  in  judg- 
ment upon  the  anti-clerical  dealings  of  Masons  in  Ro- 
man Catholic  countries." 

Reverting  to  the  New  Constitution  of  1723.  The 
Old  Brothers  did  not  take  at  all  kindly  to  the  elimina- 
tion of  Christianity  as  a  requirement  for  admission 
into  masonry.  Nor  did  they  like  to  see  their  time- 
honored  old  Gothic  Constitutions  set  aside  for  Dr.  An- 
derson's more  modern  creation.  As  Rylands  says: 
"To  them  it  would  be  a  severance  from  one,  perhaps 
the  most  treasured  of  their  ancient  usages,  in  the  use 
of  the  Roll  of  the  Old  Charges  at  the  making  of  a 
Mason." 

There  was  ground  for  their  dissatisfaction,  for  as 
Hughan  says:  "The  Charges  are  our  title  deeds  and 
prove  the  continuity  of  the  Society  through  a  very 
long  period."  However,  the  Speculatives  had  their 
way:  the  Grand  Lodge  grew  rapidly  in  authority  and 
numbers.  The  quality  of  the  Masons  of  those  early 
days  was  of  the  highest. 

Just  one  attempt  was  made  to  manipulate  the  po- 
tential influence  of  the  Masonic  Order  for  political 
purposes  in  England.  The  adherents  of  the  House  of 
Stuart  had  never  abandoned  all  hope  of  ultimate  res- 
toration. They  scorned  no  means  to  undermine  es- 
tablished government  in  the  country  where  they  had 
once  been  dominant.  Their  agents  were  at  every  Court 
of  Europe.  Liberal  support  was  accorded  them  by 
Catholic  France  and  the  Papal  See,  for  upon  the  Stuart 
success  depended  the  future  of  English  Catholicism  as 
the  religion  of  the  nation. 

A  most  remarkable  personality  of  this  early 
eighteenth  century  period  was  Philip,  the  young  Duke 


168  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

of  Wharton.  Possessing  a  superior  education,  a  fas- 
cinating and  debonair  manner,  and  unusual  originality 
coupled  with  recklessness,  with  utter  contempt  for 
public  opinion  and  conventionality,  this  wealthy  young 
rake  and  profligate  made  friends  wherever  he  went. 
He  was  guilty  of  many  a  mad  prank  which  would  have 
been  severely  frowned  upon  if  perpetrated  by  one  of 
lesser  degree  and  influence.  Having  set  Dublin  agog 
with  his  rakish  performances,  the  Duke  came  to  Lon- 
don, at  once  taking  Society  by  storm.  Indeed  for  a 
time  he  was  the  most  talked-of  Lordling  of  His  Majes- 
ty's domain.  Being  an  astute  politician,  he  regarded 
with  interest  the  growing  power  and  popularity  of 
Freemasonry.  At  heart  a  sympathizer  with  the  Pre- 
tender, he  was  doubtless  planning  the  future  treachery 
which  wrecked  an  otherwise  promising  career. 

An  English  authority,  Rylands,  advances  what 
seems  the  most  probable  explanation  of  the  Duke's 
erratic  conduct.  "It  appears  to  me  likely  that  Whar- 
ton imagined  at  a  slightly  later  time,  that  it  would  be 
possible  to  gain  over  the  strong  body  of  Freemasons, 
for  the  Stuart  cause,  by  his  extraordinary  power  of 
fascinating  all  he  knew.  For  this  purpose  he  became 
a  Freemason  and  was  ultimately  elected  Grand  Mas- 
ter in  1722." 

It  was  on  a  St.  John's  Day  when  this  youngest  of 
Grand  Masters  presided  as  toastmaster  at  a  banquet, 
that  he  determined  to  sound  the  brethren  out  by  or- 
dering the  musicians  to  play  that  Stuart  slogan,  "Let 
the  King  enjoy  his  own  again!"  only  to  hear  the  or- 
chestra abruptly  silenced  by  the  vociferous  shouts  of 
disapproving  Masons  who  were  horrified  at  so  flagrant 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  169 

an  attempt  to  inject  politics  into  one  of  their  assem- 
blies. 

Another  Masonic  Faux  Pas  of  the  madcap  Master 
was  the  spirited  defense  he  made  of  a  Stuart  adherent, 
Atterbury,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  on  trial  for  high  trea- 
son. Wharton  spoke  long  and  brilliantly  in  the  House 
of  Lords.  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Grand  Lodge  he 
was  roundly  denounced.  Philip,  Duke  of  Wharton, 
never  again  appeared  before  the  august  assembly  of 
his  Masonic  brethren. 

Filled  with  bitter  resentment,  the  young  Duke 
surreptitiously  inaugurated  a  new  Jacobite  movement 
intended  to  weaken  and  if  possible  destroy  Freema- 
sonry by  the  greatest  of  all  weapons,  ridicule.  His 
fertile  brain  it  was  which  conceived  and  founded  the 
"Ancient  Order  of  Gormogans"  claiming  Chinese  ante- 
cedents and  a  pedigree  far  antedating  the  Building  of 
King  Solomon's  Temple.  Nor  did  he  blush  to  borrow 
boldly  many  of  the  Masonic  Symbols  and  Emblems. 
Dominated  by  his  peculiar  personality  this  society 
started  in  jest,  waxed  strong  and  was  the  forerunner 
of  an  even  more  determined  attempt  by  the  Jacobites 
and  Jesuits,  in  the  nature  of  another  widely  exploited 
society  which  flourished  in  1741-2 — the  "Scald  Mis- 
erable Masons."  Considerable  money  was  expended 
by  both  societies  for  magnificent  pageants  the  tour  de 
force  of  which  was  burlesquing  the  solemn  proces- 
sionals of  the  Freemasons.  This  led  to  a  custom  which 
has  never  been  abandoned.  Masons,  except  under  dis- 
pensation of  the  Grand  Master,  parade  publicly  only 
at  funerals.  The  Gormogans  perished  simultaneuosly 
with  their  creator,  Wharton,  in  1731.    Two  great  ar- 


170  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

tists,   Benoit   and   Hogarth,  have  immortalized  these 
anti-masonic  organizations  in  their  engravings. 

The  subsequent  career  of  Philip,  Duke  of  Whar- 
ton, was  what  one  might  anticipate  from  so  eccentric 
an  individual.  He  vanished  from  London.  Trace  of 
him  was  lost  until  Lord  Mahon  wrote  from  the  con- 
tinent: "Lord  North  and  the  Duke  of  Wharton  had 
lately  gone  abroad  and  openly  attached  themselves  to 
the  Pretender's  Party,  and  now  each  separately  re- 
nounced the  Protestant  and  embraced  the  Roman 
Catholic  Faith." 

The  good-natured  Stuart  exile  put  up  with  Whar- 
ton's wildness  until  patience  ceased  longer  to  be  a  vir- 
tue, when  he  sent  him  "upon  a  mission  to  Spain."  This 
was  a  polite  and  convenient  way  of  exiling  him. 

In  his  new  environment,  the  Duke  found  a  second 
wife.  For  a  time  peace  and  quietude  was  his.  Event- 
ually his  wanderlust  again  asserted  itself.  He  asked 
for  and  received  from  the  Pretender  a  liberal  allow- 
ance, alleging  that  his  open  espousal  of  the  Stuart 
Cause  had  cost  him  wealth  and  standing  in  England. 
As  this  was  true,  he  received  a  liberal  douceur  of  many 
thousand  pounds.  Upon  this  he  lived  like  a  wastrel 
Prince  in  Belgium  until  so  reduced  that  he  had  to 
practice  an  unworthy  subterfuge  upon  a  Portuguese 
friend  to  secure  decent  raiment.  Broken  in  spirit  and 
means,  the  Duke  hastened  back  to  Spain  to  accept  a 
commission  in  the  Spanish  line.  At  the  siege  of  Gi- 
braltar he  sought  to  throw  away  his  life  by  exposing 
himself  recklessly  before  the  English  defenses.  Doubt- 
less the  gallant  gentleman  behind  those  ramparts  rec- 
ognized a  former  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  171 


England;  doubtless  they  remembered  their  most  sol- 
emn oath;  not  a  shot  was  fired. 

In  1731  Philip,  Duke  of  Wharton,  died  of  hasty 
consumption,  alone,  abandoned  by  friends  and  foes 
alike.    On  him  the  poet,  Pope  has  written: 

"Wharton,  the  scorn  and  wonder  of  our  days, 
Whose  ruling  Passion  was  the  Lust  of  Praise: 
Born  with  whate'er  could  win  it  from  the  Wise, 
Women  and  fools  must  like  him  or  he  dies. 

A  rebel  to  the  very  King  he  loves, 

He  dies,  sad  outcast  of  each  Church  and  State, 

And  harder  still,  flagitious  yet  not  great: 

Ask  you  why  Wharton  broke  through  every  rule? 

'Twas  all  for  fear  the  knaves  should  call  him  fool." 

Gould  attributes  to  Walpole  this  epithet:  "It  is 
difficult  to  give  an  account  of  the  works  of  so  mer- 
curial a  man,  whose  library  was  a  tavern,  and  women 
of  pleasure  his  muses.' 


tt 


The  Great  Revival 

It  is  to  the  Great  Revival  of  1717  that  Modern 
Masonry  owes  its  unprecedented  growth  to  almost  un- 
believable proportions.  Today  behold  the  Invisible 
Empire.  In  the  United  States  are  nearly  two  million 
Masons  Under  forty-nine  sovereign  Grand  Lodges.  The 
Grand  Lodge  of  England  controls  2578  subordinate 
Lodges.  In  Canada  eight  Grand  Lodges  control  100,- 
000  Masons.  In  Germany  are  eight  sovereign  Grand 
Lodges;  in  South  America  are  six;  in  Australia  six; 
in  India  five ;  in  the  West  Indies  three ;  in  Mexico  five  ; 
in  Liberia,  Egypt,  Central  America,  Hungary,  Servia 
and  Italy,  one  each.  The  Craft  is  potentially  influen- 
tial in  Switzerland,  Holland,  Spain,  Portugal  and  Bel- 
gium.   Out  of  the  little  movement  of  1717  sprang  the 


172  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Grand  Lodge  system  which  developed  a  universal 
force  of  vast  possibilities,  once  the  sleeping  giant 
awakens,  once  the  Masonic  Fellowship  of  the  Sons  of 
Men  is  more  firmly  welded  as  an  aftermath  of  the 
World  War. 

"More  ancient  than  any  of  the  world's  living  re- 
ligions," Masonry  today  retains  jealously  many  of  its 
ancient  landmarks  which  have  been  handed  down  by 
word  of  mouth  from  time  immemorial.  As  one  of  our 
Masonic  Philosophers  has  written,  and  as  Masters  still 
instruct  those  who  knock  at  the  portals  of  the  Lodge: 

"Our  ancient  landmarks  you  are  carefully  to  pre- 
serve, and  never  to  suffer  any  infringement  of  them 
or  on  any  pretense  to  countenance  deviations  from  the 
established  usage  and  customs  of  the  Order.  *  *  *  If 
our  secrets  and  peculiar  forms  constituted  the  essence 
of  the  Art,  it  might  with  some  degree  of  propriety  be 
alleged  that  our  amusements  were  trifling  and  our 
ceremonies  absurd.  But  this,  the  skillful,  well-in- 
formed Mason  knows  to  be  false." 

Today  Masonry  is  awaiting  the  ultimate  call  of 
Humanity,  eager  to  minister  to  the  widows  and  or- 
phans of  those  overseas  brethren  who  so  bravely  re- 
sponded to  the  call  of  country;  Masonry  has  already 
wrought  wonders  in  an  eleemosynary  way.  Much  Ma- 
sonry can  and  will  achieve. 

The  brethren  of  the  Invisible  Empire  are  awak- 
ening to  a  fuller  realization  that  in  a  measure  they 
are  indeed  responsible  for  their  fellow  man's  well-or- 
ill  being. 

Legions  of  true  men,  square  men,  men  worthy 
and  well  qualified,  men  duly  and  truly  prepared,  men 
humanitarian  in  their  ideals,  moral  in  their  code  of 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  173 


life,  tolerant  of  All  Religions,  are  carrying  into  actual 
daily  performance  that  Brotherly  Love,  Relief  and 
Truth  which  makes  Masonry  a  Very  Vital  Force,  ce- 
mented by  unfailing  belief  in  that  religion  in  which 
all  men  do  agree — The  Fatherhood  of  God,  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man. 

When  the  inevitable  moment  comes,  and  may  it 
come  soon,  that  the  Warring  Nations  cast  aside  their 
weapons,  broken,  spiritless,  crushed,  yet  not  wholly 
despairing,  the  millions  of  the  Invisible  Empire  of 
Freemasonry  will  be  found  laboring  side  by  side  with 
Other  Great  World  Forces,  to  again  promote  Peace  on 
Earth,  Good  Will  Towards  Men,  to  help  build  up  in- 
stead of  to  destroy,  since  Masonry  is  a  Constructive 
and  not  a  Destructive  Potentiality. 

So  Mote  It  Be. 

II.— THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  MASONRY 

Masonry  is  an  earnest  fellowship  of  tried  and  true 
men,  cognizant  of  human  failures  in  the  past,  con- 
scious of  human  limitations  in  the  present,  and  ani- 
mated by  the  loftiest  human  aspirations  for  the  fu- 
ture. That  Mason  who  best  understands  the  real,  the 
esoteric  meaning  of  our  gentle  philosophy,  is  best 
equipped  to  further  the  highest  ideals  of  brotherly 
love,  relief  and  truth,  for  which  Masonry  stands. 

The  sleeping  giant  of  Masonry  is  awakening  at 
last.  The  Spirit  of  Masonry  is  permeating  the  Mighty 
Fellowship,  arousing  them  to  the  call  of  humanity  in  a 
time  of  trial,  the  like  of  which  this  generation  of  the 
Sons  of  Men  had  never  thought  to  face. 

Amidst  stress  and  storm,  in  the  olden  days,  when 
men  harbored  suspicion  and  hate,  and  Nations  knew 


174  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

not  peace,  nor  Brotherly  Love,  nor  Divine  Truth, 
sprang  the  Spirit  of  Masonry  to  evolve  a  philosophy 
of  Moral  and  Social  Virtues  which  should  cement  the 
Sons  of  Men  of  diverse  Nations  by  unbreakable  bonds 
of  Fellowship. 

For  centuries,  the  propagation  of  a  Secret  Doc- 
trine, "older  than  the  oldest  Church,  more  enduring 
than  the  most  ancient  Religion,"  slowly  spread,  gir- 
dling the  globe,  gathering  into  its  Great  Brotherhood 
the  very  best  of  every  civilization  until  today,  when  it 
stands  a  Mighty  Force,  well  equipped  to  properly  fight 
the  battles  of  Humanity,  fearless  in  its  sublime  prin- 
ciples, and  assured  of  ultimate  achievement  of  its 
highest  ideals,  because  of  its  practical  application  of 
that  Great  Masonic  Dogma,  the  Fatherhood  of  God 
and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man.  Its  very  vitality  is  de- 
pendent absolutely  upon  unfaltering  Faith  in  the 
Grand  Architect  of  the  Universe,  cemented  by  those 
ties  of  true  Masonic  Fellowship  quite  unbreakable 
even  in  death. 

It  is  fortunate  that  this  is  so.  New  problems  to- 
day confront  the  Sons  of  Men.  Mighty  issues  must 
be  faced  by  the  Nations  of  the  World  including  our 
own.  Ours  the  task  to  minister  to  the  peoples  of 
Europe,  emerging  supine  from  the  dread  cataclysm  of 
War.  We  must  meet  their  pressing  need  and  extend 
the  hand  of  true  Masonic  Fellowship  the  underlying 
principle  of  which  is  Masonic  Charity.  We  are  one  of 
the  World's  Great  Forces  ever  struggling  along  a 
common  highway  of  Human  Utilitarianism.  There 
are  others  less  constructive. 

Let  the  Father  of  Masonic  Philosophy,  Albert 
Pike,  impart  to  you  his  conception  of  Freemasonry: 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  175 

"It  began  to  shape  itself  in  my  intellectual  vision  into 
something  more  imposing  and  majestic,  solemnly  mysterious 
and  grand.  It  seemed  to  me  like  the  Pyramids  in  their  lone- 
liness, in  whose  yet  undiscovered  chambers  may  be  hidden  for 
the  enlightenment  of  coming  generations,  the  Sacred  Books  of 
the  Egyptians,  so  long  lost  to  the  world:  like  the  Sphynx  half 
buried  in  the  desert.  *  *  *  In  its  Symbolism  which,  and  its 
Spirit  of  Brotherhood  are,  its  essence,  Freemasonry  is  more 
ancient  than  any  of  the  world's  living  religions.  It  has  the 
symbols  and  doctrines  which,  older  than  himself,  Zarathrustra 
inculcated,  and  it  seemed  to  me  a  spectacle  sublime,  yet  pitiful 
*  *  *  the  Ancient  Faith  of  our  Ancestors,  holding  out  to  the 
world  its  symbols  once  so  eloquent,  and  mutely  and  in  vain, 
asking  for  an  interpreter.  *  *  *  And  so  I  came  at  last  to  see 
that  the  true  greatness  and  majesty  of  Freemasonry  consist  in 
its  proprietorship  of  these  and  its  other  symbols:  and  that  its 
symbolism  is  its  soul." 

History  shows  clearly  close  connection  between 
the  Faiths  and  Philosophies  of  widely  separated  peo- 
ples. This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  human  nature  never 
changes.  It  is  the  same  now  as  it  was  in  the  pre- 
pyramidal  days  of  ancient  Egypt.  Now,  even  as  then, 
Man  is  groping  blindly  yet  none  the  less  determinedly 
in  his  endless  Quest  for  Truth. 

In  the  long  ago,  before  the  age  of  books,  Man  ex- 
pressed himself  in  Architecture  through  the  use  of 
various  symbols,  as  the  Swastika  of  the  Chaldees,  the 
Triangle  of  the  Egyptians,  the  Triple  Tau  of  the  He- 
brews, the  Cross  of  the  Christians,  the  Square,  Com- 
passes, Plumb,  Level  and  Circle  of  the  Architects, 
blood  brothers  of  the  Accepted  Masons. 

In  1818  an  archeologist,  Giovanni  Belzoni  under- 
took the  excavation  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Kings  at 
Biban-el-Maluk,  on  the  outskirts  of  what  was  once  the 
thriving  and  populous  City  of  Thebes.  The  result  of 
his  efforts  was  to  establish  the  existence  of  Masonry 
among  the  ancient  Egyptians ;  a  Masonry  working  up- 


176  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

on  the  same  basic  principles  as  our  Modern  Masonic 
Philosophy. 

Some  of  Belzoni's  most  convincing  "finds"  were 
in  the  Hall  of  Beauties,  a  stone  chamber  20  feet  by  14 
feet  in  the  tomb  of  Pharaoh  Osiris.  The  walls  were 
profusely  adorned  with  painted  pictures  in  relief,  the 
old  hieroglyphic  symbol-writing  of  ancient  Egypt 
which  has  thrown  much  light  upon  the  customs  and 
manners  of  antiquity. 

We  come  now  to  the  border  land  between  Ancient 
and  Modern  Masonry. 

In  its  various  ramifications,  the  Secret  Doctrine 
was  carried  by  the  Tyrians  from  Mount  Moriah  where 
they  had  participated  in  the  building  of  King  Solo- 
mon's Temple,  back  to  their  homeland.  They  who  had 
had  a  hand  in  the  most  stupendous  architectural  un- 
dertaking of  ancient  times,  now  formed  themselves 
into  a  Society  known  as  the  Dionysian  Architects. 

Presently  the  sway  of  Rome  began  to  extend  it- 
self over  the  ancient  world.  The  Roman  legions  came 
to  Tyre.  With  them  they  took  back  to  the  City  of 
the  Seven  Hills,  many  of  those  skilled  workmen  who 
had  developed  Architecture  to  a  high  degree  until 
then  not  dreamed  of  in  Rome.  In  the  home  of  the 
Caesars  they  imparted  their  wondrous  skill  to  others 
and  in  time  an  Order  akin  to  their  own,  The  Collegia, 
sprang  into  being.  These  too  were  fraternities  of 
skilled  artificers  closely  correlated,  and  protected  by 
the  same  Secret  System  as  their  instructors.  A  some- 
what significant  characteristic  of  each  of  these  Ro- 
man Collegia  was  the  fact  that  each  had  its  Master, 
its  Wardens,  a  Secretary  and  a  Treasurer,  and  a 
Quorum  of  three,  as  a  requirement  to  meeting.    The 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  177 

Square,  the  Plumb,  the  Level,  the  Cube,  the  Com- 
passes and  the  Circle  were  symbolic  emblems  of  the 
Roman  Builders.  Secrecy  was  a  keynote  of  their  or- 
ganization. 

In  the  days  when  Christianity  was  forbidden 
Heresy  in  still-pagan  Rome,  many  of  The  Collegia  be- 
came afflicted  with  the  strange  new  Cult.  For  a  time, 
the  Emperor  Diocletian  purposely  permitted  himself 
to  be  blind  to  their  departure  from  the  ancient  Faith 
to  that  of  the  Nazarene.  When  four  of  their  most  in- 
fluential members  refused  to  erect  a  statue  to  the  God 
Aesculapius,  Diocletian  inaugurated  a  vigorous  cam- 
paign for  their  undoing.  Four  of  the  Masters  and  one 
Apprentice  suffered  a  horrible  death.  It  is  these  Four 
who  today  are  gratefully  remembered  by  the  Crafts- 
men of  Europe,  as  our  First  Masonic  Martyrs.  After 
them  is  named  the  greatest  Lodge  of  Research  in  the 
world,  the  Quatuor  Coronati  of  London. 

Such  of  the  brethren  of  the  Collegia  as  escaped 
fled  to  an  impregnable  refuge  on  Lake  Como.  Here 
they  kept  their  secret  organization  alive  perpetuating 
it  as  the  Comacine  Gild  which  flourished  during  the 
Dark  Ages. 

After  Charlemagne,  when  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity led  to  an  immense  revival  in  building  as  a  fine 
art,  expressing  itself  in  the  erection  of  great  Cathe- 
drals, the  Comacines  followed  in  the  wake  of  the 
Clergy,  availing  themselves  of  their  ancient  privileges 
as  Free  Men  to  go  whither  they  might  desire. 

Out  of  their  wanderings  resulted  the  Cathedral 
Builders  or  Free  Masons — the  old  Operatives — who 
traveled  from  city  to  city,  from  nation  to  nation,  wel- 
comed by  all  and  recognized  as  the  only  Gilds  quite 


178  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

competent  to  express  the  Spirit  of  the  Times  in  speak- 
ing stone.  Their  organization  was  that  of  Lodges, 
with  a  Master,  Fellowcrafts  and  Apprentices. 

Apprentices  were  required  to  serve  seven  years 
before  they  might  become  Fellowcrafts.  Then  there 
was  due  examination  and  only  such  as  were  found 
duly  and  truly  prepared,  worthy  and  well-qualified 
were  passed.  Another  characteristic  was  that  each 
Mason  had  his  own  individual  mark.  Many  of  these 
you  may  see  today  in  some  of  the  great  Cathedrals  of 
Europe. 

Perhaps  I  can  best  explain  the  great  dependence 
of  Freemasons  upon  Symbolic  Expression  by  follow- 
ing the  example  of  Ossian  Lang  and  quoting  from  that 
masterly  Chapter  in  Victor  Hugo's  "Notre  Dame."  It 
takes  its  title,  "THIS  WILL  KILL  THAT,"  from  the 
gloom  of  one  of  its  leading  characters,  the  Arch- 
deacon, as  he  contrasts  a  crudely  printed  book,  one  of 
the  first  of  its  kind,  with  the  towers  and  gargoyle- 
decorated  walls  of  the  Church,  supreme  consumma- 
tion of  Masons'  handiwork,  to  gloomily  exclaim  as  he 
points  to  the  printed  page,  "This  will  kill  that."  Says 
Victor  Hugo: 

"The  human  race  has  had  two  books,  two  registers,  two 
testaments — Architecture  and  Printing — the  Bible  of  Stone, 
and  the  Bible  of  Paper.  Up  to  the  time  of  Gutenberg,  Archi- 
tecture was  the  chief  and  universal  mode  of  writing.  In  those 
days  if  a  man  was  born  a  poet,  he  turned  architect.  GENIUS, 
scattered  among  the  masses, — kept  down  on  all  sides  by  feudal- 
ity,— escaped  by  way  of  Architecture,  and  its  Iliads  took  the 
form  of  Cathedrals.  From  the  moment  that  printing  was  dis- 
covered, architecture  gradually  lost  its  virility,  declined  and 
became  denuded.  Being  no  longer  looked  upon  as  the  one  all- 
embracing,  sovereignty  and  enslaving  art,  architecture  lost  it& 
power  of  retaining  others  in  its  service.  Carving  became 
Sculpture, — Imagery,  Painting, — the  Canon,  Music.    It  was  like 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  179 

the  dismemberment  of  an  Empire  on  the  death  of  its  Alexan- 
der,— each  province  making  itself  a  kingdom." 

While  Masonry  expressed  itself  in  the  handiwork 
of  the  Compagnons  as  our  craftsmen  were  called  in 
France,  of  the  Comacines  in  Italy,  and  the  Vehmger- 
ichte  in  Germany,  Gothic  Architecture  springing  up 
in  England  after  the  Norman  Conquest  in  1066,  gave 
an  equal  degree  of  prosperity  to  the  Freemasons 
there.  And  as  early  as  1600  it  was  quite  common  in 
England  for  Operative  Lodges  to  admit  Speculative 
members. 

Although  engaged  in  the  service  of  the  Church 
the  Freemasons  did  not  even  in  mediaeval  days  wholly 
approve  of  the  Church.  Upon  some  of  the  highest 
cornices  of  their  handiwork  they  have  indelibly  car- 
tooned this  contempt.  For  example  Findel  says:  "In 
the  St.  Sebaldus  Church  of  Nurembourg,  is  a  carving 
showing  a  nun  in  the  embrace  of  a  monk.  In  Strass- 
burg  an  Ass  is  reading  Mass  at  an  altar.  In  Mecklen- 
burg may  be  seen  priests  grinding  dogmas  out  of  a 
gristmill,  and  the  Apostles  in  well-known  Masonic  at- 
titudes. At  Brandenburg  you  may  see  a  fox  in  priest- 
ly robes  preaching  to  a  flock  of  geese/' 

With  the  Reformation  came  a  distinct  break  be- 
tween Church  and  Freemasonry. 

A  direct  off -shoot  of  the  traveling  Freemasons 
were  City  Gilds  which  embodied  much  of  the  Philos- 
ophy, and  some  of  the  brotherhood  features,  of  our 
Order.  Still  they  were  quite  distinct.  They  some- 
times worked  for  the  Freemasons.  To  enter  the  older 
and  more  artistic  fraternity  they  must  prove  pos- 
sessed of  unusual  skill. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  our  direct  descent  from 


180  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

the  mediaeval  craftsmen  of  whose  splendid  symbolism 
I  have  tried  to  give  a  glimpse.  Says  Joseph  Fort  New- 
ton in  his  classic  of  the  Blue  Lodge: 

"Masonry  was  then  at  the  zenith  of  its  power:  in  its  full 
splendor:  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  its  symbol,  strength, 
wisdom  and  beauty  its  ideals.  Its  motto  "to  be  faithful  to  God 
and  the  Government."  Its  mission  to  lend  itself  to  the  public 
good  and  fraternal  Charity.  Keeper  of  an  ancient  and  high 
tradition,  it  was  a  refuge  for  the  oppressed,  and  a  teacher  of 
art  and  morality  to  mankind." 

It  was  when  the  Freemasons  took  Liberty  for  a 
slogan  that  the  Church  looked  askance.  In  the  more 
Catholic  countries  Freemasonry  was  frowned  upon. 

They  through  united  action  drove  the  hated 
Spanish  Inquisition  from  the  shores  of  the  New 
World.  In  Mexico,  Masons  since  1833  have  had  their 
own  particular  platform,  later  formulated  as  the  Laws 
of  Reform  into  the  Constitution  of  1857,  that  same 
Constitution  for  which  Madero  gave  his  life,  for  which 
Carranza  is  fighting  now. 

Social  Service  is  another  latter  day  call  upon  the 
craft.  In  some  cities,  Masonic  Social  Service  has  been 
developed  to  the  highest  degree  of  efficiency. 

He  who  would  best  serve  Masonry  must  be  tire- 
less in  his  efforts.  Maintain  close  connection  with 
your  Lodge;  Make  the  visiting  stranger  feel  at  home; 
Aid  the  Master  in  devising  ways  and  means  to  vary 
the  monotony  of  the  ceaseless  grinding  of  our  Degree 
Mills,  endless  repetition,  an  unavoidable  consequence 
nowadays  because  of  the  Wave  of  Masonic  Enthu- 
siasm overspreading  the  country.  If  you  would  bet- 
ter fit  yourself  for  the  Fellowship  of  Freemasonry  as 
an  Active  Worker,  inform  yourself  of  its  splendid  tra- 
ditions, its  history,  aims,  and  present-day  activities. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  181 

All  this  is  possible  through  our  readable  Masonic 
Magazines,  and  periodicals  for  those  of  you  pressed 
for  time,  and  the  weightier  tomes  of  Masonic  Lore  for 
the  Booklover.  You  will  soon  learn  there  is  much  that 
we  must  do.    We  Masons  are  just  finding  ourselves. 

I  might  consume  hours  telling  of  the  problems  to 
be  met.  Perhaps  most  of  you  know  better  than  I 
many  of  them  now  staring  us  in  the  face.  Signs  of 
Unrest  are  all  about  us.  How  to  meet  new  issues, 
new  conditions,  Masons  may  find  by  keeping  in  close 
contact  with  their  Lodges,  their  Chapters,  their  Ma- 
sonic Clubs  and  subsidiary  organizations  where  the 
best  of  the  brethren  meet  to  take  council  together, 
and  plan  for  the  future,  while  showing  an  unrelaxing 
interest  in  the  present. 

There  is  much  more  to  Masonry  than  the  contin- 
uous repetition  of  Ritualism.  While  that  has  its  func- 
tion, in  reminding  us  of  the  Great  Philosophy  which 
has  successfully  weathered  the  storms  of  centuries, 
and  contributed  its  quota  to  the  making  of  Better 
Men,  Squarer  Men,  Truer  Men,  yet  it  has  failed  ut- 
terly and  its  beauty  and  rhythmic  charm  has  had  no 
meaning  to  him  who  came  merely  to  be  raised  from 
a  dead  level  to  a  living  perpendicular,  if  he  passes  out 
again  to  the  Profane,  to  flaunt  his  emblem  proudly, 
while  altogether  out  of  touch  with  the  Brotherhood, 
with  the  lodge,  with  himself — a  Button  Mason  indeed, 
who  comes  no  more  to  lodge  unless  it  be  to  dine. 

There  is  no  more  splendid  Fellowship  than  that 
of  Masonry — the  glorious  interlacing  Fellowship  of 
Man  with  the  Great  Architect  of  the  Universe,  the  in- 
visible, incorporeal  ONE  GOD — and  next  the  Fellow- 
ship of  Man  with  Men,  mutual  recognition  of  brother- 


182  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

hood.    Such  a  fellowship  expresses  both  human  ideals 
and  spiritual  aspirations. 

All  through  the  long  centuries  Masonry  has  borne 
the  Secret  Doctrine  of  Fellowship  teaching  Man  to 
live  in  harmony  with  Man. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  Great  Quest  all  Masons  have 
made,  all  Masons  are  making,  that  steady  secret 
search  which  some  have  found,  and  some  have  not, 
the  goal. 

To  each  man  is  the  Secret  Doctrine  unraveled  in- 
sofar as  he  senses  his  proximity  to  his  God,  his  broth- 
erly responsibility  for  his  kind. 

WHEN  IS  A  MAN  A  MASON  ? 

Find  the  answer  in  that  Blue  Lodge  Classic,  The 
Builders,  by  Bro.  Joseph  Fort  Newton: 

"When  he  can  look  out  over  the  rivers,  the  hills,  and  the 
far  horizon  with  a  sense  of  his  own  littleness  in  the  vast  scheme 
of  things,  and  yet  have  faith,  hope  and  courage  *  *  *  which  is 
the  root  of  every  virtue.  When  he  knows  that  down  in  his 
heart,  every  man  is  as  noble,  as  vile,  as  divine,  as  diabolic,  and 
as  lonely  as  himself,  and  seeks  to  know,  to  forgive  and  to  love 
his  fellow-man.  When  he  knows  how  to  sympathize  with  men 
in  their  sorrow,  yea,  even  in  their  sins,  knowing  that  each  man 
fights  a  hard  fight  against  many  odds.  When  he  has  learned 
how  to  make  friends  and  to  keep  them,  and  above  all,  to  keep 
friends  with  himself.  *  *  *  When  he  can  be  happy  and  high- 
minded  amid  the  meaner  drudgeries  of  life.  *  *  *  When  no 
voice  of  distress  reaches  his  ears  in  vain,  and  no  hand  seeks 
his  aid  without  response.  *  *  *  When  he  knows  how  to  pray, 
how  to  love,  how  to  hope.  *  *  *  When  he  has  kept  faith  with 
himself,  with  his  fellowman,  with  his  God:  in  his  hand  a  sword 
for  evil,  in  his  heart  a  bit  of  song,  *  *  *  glad  to  live,  but  not 
afraid  to  die.  Such  a  man  has  found  the  ONLY  REAL  SE- 
CRET OF  MASONRY,  and  THE  ONE  which  it  is  trying  to 
give  all  the  world." 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  183 

"SIT  LUX" 

EPILOGUE 

MEXICAN  MASONRY  AND  THE  MEN  WHO 

MADE  IT. 

A  GENERAL  SUMMARY 

EDITORIAL  NOTE.— This  article  was  specially  written 
for  "Light"  by  Prest.  McLeish,  of  the  Masonic  Library  Associa- 
tion of  Cincinnati.  Several  years  ago  he  wrote  an  article  for 
Masonic  Bibliophile,  then  under  the  able  management  of  the 
late  Bro.  Scott  Bonham.  This  has  been  widely  copied  by  the 
Masonic  Press,  but  does  not  contain  as  full  an  account  of  the 
various  branches  of  Mexican  Masonry  as  the  present  writing, 
bringing  the  story  up  to  date. 

The  data  for  the  original  Bibliophile  article,  referring  only 
to  the  Scottish  Rite,  was  obtained  by  the  author  from  General 
Agramonte,  of  Mexico  City.  The  father  of  Doctor  McLeish 
spent  six  years  of  mining  activity  in  Sabinal,  Chihuahua,  which 
town  he  founded  and  where  he  died,  in  the  days  when  Porfirio 
Diaz  was  President. 

Through  his  Masonic  connections  the  family  were  able  to 
have  the  body  brought  through  a  practically  unsettled  district 
120  miles  coffinless,  across  the  Chihuahua  desert  to  Villa  Ahu- 
mada,  where  a  special  train  and  undertaker  were  waiting.  A 
special  escort  of  Masons  accompanied  it  to  El  Paso,  Texas, 
where  it  was  received  by  the  Knights  Templar  in  1896. 

The  younger  McLeish  was  not  then  a  Mason,  but  naturally 
gathered  much  first  hand  information  as  his  father  came  into 
close  contact  with  such  Masons  as  President  Diaz,  General 
Agramonte,  Governor  Ahumada,  the  Macmanus  Brothers, 
Senior  Horcasitas  and  Vice-President  Pombo. 

Since  the  days  prior  to  1896  Brother  McLeish  has  become 
a  Mason  and  continued  his  pursuit  of  information  concerning 
other  rites.  The  latest  of  these  is  the  American  York  Grand 
Lodge,  which  claims  to  be  the  only  legitimate  successor  to  the 
Valle  de  Mexico,  Grand.  Brother  Frederick  E.  Young,  Past 
Grand  Master,  has  given  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  official 
statement,  the  American  faction  side,  in  an  article  originally 
published  in  the  Ars  Quattuor  Coronati  and  republished  by  the 
Trestleboard  together  with  the  Bibliophile  article  as  a  preface. 

In  order  that  the  Masonic  press  may  get  a  "fresh  start" 
as  it  were,  therefore,  Brother  McLeish  has  carefully  revised 
his  data  and  brought  it  up  to  date  by  reference  to  all  sources 
available  to  Americans  at  present. 


184  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

No  small  part  has  been  played  by  Mexican  Free- 
masons in  an  historic  drama  as  replete  with  action  as 
any  ever  staged  by  humanity. 

At  the  inchoation  of  the  Nineteenth  century  Mex- 
ico seemed  hopelessly  enslaved  under  the  harsh  rule 
of  Roman  ecclesiasticism  expressing  itself  through 
the  puppet  personalities  of  Spanish  viceroys,  repre- 
sentatives of  a  king  and  a  Cortez  utterly  subservient 
to  the  Pope  of  Rome. 

For  three  hundred  years  this  sad  condition  had 
persisted  in  Mexico.  In  consequence  the  clergy  were 
stupendously  rich  and  seemingly  fortified  in  an  im- 
pregnable position.  What  was  left  of  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  country  after  supplying  the  priests  and 
mother  country  went  to  the  enrichment  of  the  vice- 
roy and  the  Spanish  satellites  making  up  his  court. 
For  the  native-born  was  abject  misery,  slavery,  dire 
poverty. 

Terror  of  the  Inquisition 

Through  the  country  the  dread  inquisition  flour- 
ished and  held  sway.  Its  wretched  victims  filled  to 
over-flowing  the  great  military  prisons  like  San  Juan 
de  Uloa  with  their  disease-disseminating,  vermin-in- 
fested, dark  dungeons,  veritable  hell  holes.  So  un- 
utterably cruel  were  the  penalties  attached  by  the  in- 
quisitors to  failure  to  pay  the  clerical  tithes  any  ut- 
terance against  the  existing  order,  a  breath  of  what 
they  might  consider  heresy,  that  wonder  is  the  SYS- 
TEM held  sway  as  long  as  it  did.  However  much  the 
native-born  contributed  to  their  taskmasters,  it  was 
never  enough. 

Overseas,  decadent  Spain  was  in  dire  straits;  up- 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  185 

on  the  viceroys  it  devolved  to  pay  the  upkeep  of  the 
Court  of  the  Bourbons,  to  meet  the  endless  demands 
of  the  Clerical  OCTOPUS  fattening  upon  both  coun- 
tries. 

First  Masonic  Record  1806 

Our  first  authentic  Masonic  record  in  Mexico  may 
be  traced  back  to  a  little  house  in  Mexico  City,  Calle 
de  las  Ratas  No.  4,  where  as  early  as  1806  the  Masonic 
lodge,  then  known  as  "Arquitectura  Moral,"  held  its 
regular  meetings  to  disseminate  Masonic  light  and 
plan  for  the  great  day  when  the  yoke  of  the  Spaniards 
and  the  inquisition  should  be  driven  from  the  country 
forevermore.  In  the  membership  of  this  little  pioneer 
lodge  were  some  of  the  most  intelligent  of  Mexico's 
citizens,  Don  Manuel  Luyando,  Don  Enrique  Muni, 
Don  Manuel  Verdad,  Don  Gregorio  Martinez,  Don 
Feliciano  Vargas,  Don  Jose  Maria  Espinosa,  Don  Mi- 
guel Betancourt,  Don  Ignacio  Moreno  and  Don  Miguel 
Dominguez. 

Hidalgo,  the  Priest-Mason 

To  the  city,  seeking  Masonic  light,  there  came 
dust-covered  and  weary  from  miles  of  mountain  and 
desert  travel  two  great  men,  a  priest  and  a  soldier, 
the  one,  Don  Miguel  Hidalgo  y  Costilla,  cure  of  the 
parish  of  Dolores,  the  other  Don  Ignacio  Allende. 
They  abode  in  No.  5  Calle  de  las  Ratas,  and,  having 
been  found  worthy  and  well  qualified,  duly  and  truly 
prepared,  were  successively  inducted  into  the  mys- 
teries of  Aprendiz,  Companero  and  Maestro,  according 
to  the  Liturgias  of  "Verdadera  Masoneria"  or  "Rito- 
Antiguo-Aceptado-Escoces." 

A   sufficient   authority  for  this  statement  is  the 


186  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

authenticated  historian  of  the  period,  Richard  E. 
Chism,  corroborated  at  a  later  date  by  an  equally  re- 
liable writer,  Senor  de  la  Pena. 

Not  easy  in  those  days  of  inquisitorial  supremacy 
was  it  even  for  a  Masonic  lodge  to  meet,  however  great 
the  precautions  taken.  Spanish  spies  infested  every 
street  corner;  servitors  in  the  houses  were  subsidized 
agents  of  the  inquisition;  the  apparently  respectable 
civilian  living  next  one's  door  was  an  accredited  agent 
of  the  system  which  terrorized  the  nation. 

Cabo  Franco  the  Spy 

What  wonder,  then,  that  a  house  across  the  way 
from  the  lodge  room  of  "The  Moral  Architect,"  the 
house  at  No.  12  Calle  de  las  Ratas,  should  shelter  a 
creature  there  domiciled  for  no  other  reason  than  to 
spy  upon  the  patriots  and  in  due  time  denounce  them 
to  his  superiors? 

So  it  happened.  The  fellow,  Cabo  Franco,  spoke 
at  an  appropriate  time,  the  black-garbed  hirelings  of 
the  inquisition  descended  upon  the  house  at  No.  4, 
and  a  vigorous  persecution  of  the  brethren  followed. 

Hidalgo  Excommunicated 

Fortunately  for  the  cause  of  Mexican  independ- 
ence, Brothers  Hidalgo  and  Allende  had  left  the  city 
before  the  raid;  in  consequence  the  inquisition  had  to 
content  itself  with  excommunicating  these  "devil- wor- 
shippers'' and  "members  of  an  accursed  sect,"  which 
not  at  all  precluded  them  sounding  "el  grito"  in  Sep- 
tember of  1810  and  raising  the  standard  of  revolt 
against  "the  system." 

His  Death 

Of  the  brief  heroic  efforts  of  Hidalgo,  Allende, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  187 

and  their  brother  Masons  to  bring  light  to  poor  Mex- 
ico, history  has  told  the  tale.  Of  how,  after  a  scintil- 
lating victory  over  the  trained  forces  of  the  viceroy 
and  the  troops  of  the  Spanish  line,  indecision,  lack  of 
proper  equipment  and  dissension  among  the  ignorant 
Indian  chieftains  who  had  flocked  to  their  standard 
brought  inevitable  defeat ;  of  how  Hidalgo  and  his  few 
remaining  followers  made  a  last  brave  stand  at  the 
River  Calderon,  only  to  find  defeat  and  death,  their 
heads  displayed  on  pikes  in  Chihuahua  City.  With 
this  sad  sequel  to  the  first  act  in  the  long  struggle 
for  Mexican  independence  you  are  doubtless  familiar. 

From  the  uprising  of  Hidalgo  and  his  patriots, 
affairs  moved  rapidly  in  Mexico.  Leader  after  Lead- 
er succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  revolutionary 
armies.  From  1810  on,  the  Viceroy alty  knew  not 
peace.  Some  of  the  best  forces  of  the  Spanish  line 
were  sent  across  the  water  to  quell  the  revolt. 

In  vain — in  vain.  Priestcraft  can  never  conquer 
LIBERTY. 

Always  in  Mexico  arose  again  an  Army  of  the 
NATIVE  BORN. 

In  the  capitol,  varying  successes,  in  the  field,  had 
loosened  the  tongues  of  men.  Pamphleteers  were 
legion.  For  the  first  time  the  public  press  presumed 
to  openly  criticize  the  August  Representative  of  the 
King  of  Spain.  That  Fetich  hitherto  Supreme — THE 
INQUISITION, — you  may  well  believe,  came  in  for 
caustic,  captious  criticism.  Its  persecution,  its  incred- 
ible inhumanities  were  brought  to  light. 

Perhaps  the  Inquisitors  thought,  when  they 
raided   the   house    at  No.  4,  Calle  de  las  Ratas,  dis- 


188  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

persed  the  Brethren,  took  possession  of  the  Book  of 
Constitution  and  Records  of  the  Lodge — that  they 
were  ending  Mexican  Masonry  forevermore! 

Poor,  fatuous  fools! 

They  labored  under  the  same  mistake  in  France, 
in  1780,  when  they  laid  their  trap  for  Count 
Cagliostro,  Grand  Cophta  of  the  Egyptian  Rite  of 
Masonry. 

Out  of  the  mystic  East  had  come  this  mysterious 
personage  bringing  with  him  the  wisdom  of  Isis  and 
Osiris,  and  the  Ritualism  of  one  of  the  purest,  most 
uplifting  branches   of   Masonic  Lore  known  to  man. 

From  country  to  country  traveled  the  Grand 
Cophta,  forming  his  Lodges,  making  alliances  with 
other  established  Masonic  Bodies,  working  ever  with 
one  fixed  purpose  in  view,  the  overthrow  of  ABSO- 
LUTISM AND  PRIESTCRAFT.  Like  Voltaire,  and 
Rousseau,  Franklin  and  Paul  Jones,  the  Grand  Cophta 
was  the  precursor  of  a  general  philosophic  movement, 
symbolized  by  the  slogans,  "LIBERTY,  FRATER- 
NITY AND  EQUALITY." 

In  every  country  of  his  sojourn,  the  Grand  Cophta 
was  the  victim  of  a  studied  campaign  of  lying  and 
slander  and  malice.  Unterrified,  and  confident,  he 
pursued  his  course,  achieving  inconceivable  success 
and  came  at  last  to  France.  From  the  provincial 
towns  like  Lyons,  the  ramifications  of  the  Egyptian 
Rite  Lodges  extended  their  network  in  and  about 
Paris,  where  at  last  came  Count  Cagliostro,  to  per- 
form the  finishing  touches  to  his  self-assigned  task, 
prior  to  sounding  the  summons  to  a  general  revolu- 
tion. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  189 

In  Paris  the  Grand  Cophta  made  his  one  vital 
mistake.  He  renewed  his  former  friendship  with  a 
minion  of  Mother  Church,  the  Cardinal  de  Rohan. 

On  the  very  eve  of  his  success,  when  the  Grand 
Orients  of  France,  the  Illuminati,  and  the  Philaletae 
were  ready  and  willing  to  form  a  pact  of  union  with 
Cagliostro's  Rite  of  Egypt,  a  union  which  would  have 
hastened  the  French  Revolution  by  many  years,  the 
Inquisitors  struck.  They  struck  hard.  Rome  never 
does  things  by  halves. 

To  ruin  a  man  of  Cagliostro's  immense  fraternal 
influence  called  for  something  quite  out  of  the  ordin- 
ary. Rome  was  ready  however.  It  cost  the  Inquisi- 
tion a  Cardinal  of  the  Church :  they  hurried  De  Rohan 
off  to  the  Bastile:  with  him  went  the  man  who  had 
been  a  faithful  friend.  With  these  two  into  the 
gloomy  French  Prison  went  the  serpent  who  had  been 
the  original  temptress,  Madam  de  St.  Remy  de  Valois 
de  la  Motte,  the  beautiful  but  wicked  Countess,  also 
the  poor  little  wife  of  the  Grand  Cophta. 

In  the  subsequent  imprisonment  and  torture  of 
Count  Cagliostro  and  his  wife,  in  the  persistent  damn- 
ing of  his  reputation  by  the  lying  paragraphers  of  the 
Inquisition,  his  unscrupulous  enemies  hoped  and 
thought  they  were  dealing  a  death-blow  to  the  power- 
ful SECRET  BROTHERHOOD  of  which  he  had  been 
but  ONE  MASTER.    They  were  mistaken. 

When  the  time  was  come,  the  patriots  struck 
hard  and  with  no  less  telling  effect. 

The  Inquisition  had  it  is  true,  killed  a  single 
Grand  Lodge  and  its  known  Grand  Master,  but  MA- 
SONRY then  as  formerly,  then  as  now,  then  as  in 


190  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

time  to  come  it  will,  went  marching  bravely  on,  un- 
deterred, unafraid. 

There  were,  and  there  are,  other  Rites  than  that 
of  Egypt. 

So  in  Mexico. 

Although  the  System  had  crushed  the  Moral 
Architect  Lodge  which  is  also  known  to  later  writers 
as  Valle  de  Mejico  No.  1,  although  the  inquisitors 
hounded  the  brave  little  band  who  had  made  up  its 
charter  membership,  although  they  executed  Hidalgo 
and  Allende — not  at  all  did  they  preclude  the  spread 
of  Masonry. 

In  1813  was  established  the  first  Grand  Lodge 
under  the  Scottish  Rite,  having  for  its  Grand  Master, 
Don  Felipe  Martinez  Aragon.  A  number  of  subordin- 
ate Lodges  sprang  up  throughout  the  country. 

Naturally  there  were  factions.  One  might  find 
Lodges  composed  of  Spaniards  only,  and  those  of  Mex- 
icans. Aragon  was  the  leader  of  the  Spanish  Masons. 
Of  the  Native  Born,  the  patriot  General,  Don  Nicolas 
Bravo  was  the  head. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Don  Augustin  de 
Iturbide,  General  Antonio  Lopez  de  Santa  Anna, 
Guadalupe  Victoria  and  the  brave  Guerrero  received 
MASONIC  LIGHT. 

In  1816,  and  1817,  there  were  working  under 
charter,  from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Louisiana,  these 
Lodges,  "Friends  United  No.  8,"  at  Vera  Cruz,  and 
"Reunion  by  Virtue  No.  9,"  at  Campeche. 

In  1824,  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Pennsylvania  gave 
Charter  to  a  Lodge  in  Alvarado  working  as  "True 
Brothers  of  Papaloapam  No.  191." 

From  its  humble  beginning  in  Calle  de  las  Ratas, 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  191 

Mexican  Masonry  had  its  heritage  of  hate.  Nolens 
volens,  it  must  enter  politics  to  fight  for  its  very  be- 
ing, to  combat  the  horrible  OCTOPUS  OF  THE  IN- 
QUISITION, whose  tentacles  were  still  far-reaching 
throughout  the  country. 

By  no  possible  manner  of  means,  could  the  Light 
of  Liberty  come  to  this  priest-ridden  country,  while 
the  filthy  dungeons  of  San  Juan  de  Uloa,  the  gloomy 
cells  of  the  Acordado  and  old  Belem,  were  packed  with 
the  native  sons,  held  in  durance  on  charges  of  Heresy, 
and  through  sheer  inability  to  meet  the  demands  of 
the  fat  friars  and  tithe-takers  of  the  existing  govern- 
ment. 

MEXICAN  MASONRY  had  its  mission  clearly 
defined. 

It  was  to  be  a  duello  "al  muerte,,  between  the 
Brotherhood  of  LIGHT  and  the  Sons  of  Loyola. 

Factional  fights  and  internecine  jealousies  were 
but  natural  in  an  Order  embracing  men  of  the  fer- 
vent, volatile,  effervescent  temperament  of  the  native 
Mexicans. 

The  time  seemed  ripe  for  a  schism. 

It  so  happened  that  the  American  Minister  to 
Mexico,  Mr.  Joel  Poinsett,  was  one  of  the  high  authori- 
ties of  York  Rite  Masonry  in  his  native  land.  To  him 
then,  came  certain  of  the  disaffected  leaders  of  the 
Mexican  Scottish  Rite,  Don  Jose  Maria  Alpuche  y  In- 
fante, Don  Miguel  Ramos  Arizpe,  Don  Ignacio  Esteva, 
and  Don  Jose  Antonio  Mejia,  representing  as  many 
symbolic  lodges.  They  petitioned  for  a  Charter  un- 
der the  York  Rite  of  the  United  States,  which  Mr. 
Poinsett  eventually  procured  for  them,  through  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  New  York. 


192  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

The  Grand  Master  of  the  New  Rite  was  Genera 
Vincente  Guerrero  destined  soon  to  become  Presidenl 
of  the  Republic,  destined  too,  to  share  the  same  sac 
fate  as  his  brother  Mason,  Iturbide, — at  the  hands  oj 
his  compatriots. 

From  now  on  a  merry  strife  commenced  betweer 
the  two  dominant  Masonic  Bodies,  interspersed  with 
the  inevitable  conflicts  with  the  Clerical  Party. 

An  amusing  anomaly  of  that  early  period  of  Ma 
sonry  in  Mexico,  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  each 
Rite  had  among  its  membership,  some  friars  anc 
priests,  in  sufficient  number  to  prevail  upon  the  breth 
ren  to  observe  publicly  certain  Fiestas  of  the  Ladies 
of  Pilar  and  La  Mercedes  for  the  Scottish  Rite,  anc 
Our  Illustrious  Lady  of  Guadalupe  for  the  York  Rite 

All  this  while  too,  MOTHER  CHURCH  was  ana 
thematizing  Masonry  of  every  Rite  from  its  pulpits 

Early  York  Rite  Lodges  working  under  the  Ne^ 
Charter  were: 

"La  Libertad  No.  1,"  "La  Federacion  No.  2,"  "U 
Independencia  No.  3." 

In  1828  there  were  as  many  as  102  York  Rite 
Lodges  in  Mexico.  Of  these,  some  were  Military 
Lodges  having  no  fixed  habitat. 

From  the  cradle  of  Mexican  Masonry  in  Calle  d( 
Las  Ratas  had  come  into  being  the  two  powerfu 
bodies  which,  with  the  establishment  of  the  First  Re- 
public of  Mexico,  following  the  collapse  of  Iturbide'* 
short-lived  Empire,  were  destined  to  offer  as  Leaders 
in  the  Civic  and  Dictatorial  government  of  the  coun- 
try,— men  thoroughly  trained  in  the  principles  oi 
LIBERTY,  FRATERNITY  and  EQUALITY— states- 
men, diplomats,  soldiers  and  writers,  each  in  his  own 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  193 

occupying  an  especial  niche  in  the  MASONIC  ROLL 
OF  HONOR. 

The  long  struggle  for  Independence  had  fur- 
nished as  Masonry's  quota  to  the  national  leaders, 
Hidalgo,  Allende,  Mina,  Iturbide,  Santa  Anna,  Guer- 
rero, Victoria, — nay,  the  roll  is  long,  too  long  indeed, 
for  individual  mention  here. 

It  was  but  natural  that  out  of  the  jealousies  ex- 
istent between  the  Scottish  and  York  Rites,  should 
emerge  still  a  third  Masonic  Rite,  claiming  its  own 
individual  Masonic  Sovereignty  and  its  own  share  in 
the  partitioning  of  public  offices  and  state  control, 
while  ever  ready  to  battle  with  its  Sister  Rites  against 
the  common  foe  of  Masonry — the  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

In  1825  there  assembled  in  Mexico  City  repre- 
sentatives from  both  the  Scottish  and  York  Rite 
bodies,  among  them  such  prominent  Masons  as  Don 
Jose  Maria  Mateos,  Guillermo  Lamott,  Guillermo  Gar- 
dett,  Cayetano  Rinaldi,  Luis  Luelmo,  Juan  Maria  Ma- 
theus,  Francisco  Ocampo,  and  Mariano  Rodriguez. 
Through  their  deliberations  was  evolved  the  NA- 
TIONAL RITE  OF  MEXICO  under  the  following  gen- 
eral rules. 

The  membership  must  be  limited  solely  to  regu- 
larly raised  Masons  of  Recognized  Rites.  The  afore- 
mentioned Rite  was  to  be  entirely  free  and  independ- 
ent of  any  other  Rite  as  to  sovereignty  throughout 
the  Mexican  Nation,  and  its  dependencies,  its  govern- 
ment, residing  in  a  Supreme  Grand  Orient  and  A  Na- 
tional Grand  Lodge  of  Mexico.  That  the  symbolic 
degrees  shall  be  the  same  as  those  of  other  recognized 
Masonic    Rites,    Aprendiz,    Companero  and  Maestro: 


194  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

the  higher  grades,  thirty-three,  among  these  Past 
Master,  Knight  of  the  Secret,  Knight  of  the  Mexican 
Eagle,  Perfect  Artificer,  Grand  Judge  and  Grand  In- 
spector. 

The  Grand  Lodge  "La  Luz"  under  the  new  Grand 
Master  Guillermo  Gardett,  assembled  in  1826  with 
these  symbolic  lodges  subordinate: 

Igualidad:  Terror  de  los  Tiranos:  Meridiano  Ana- 
huassense:  Luz  Mejicana:  and  Desocupacion  Indiana. 

Perfect  peace,  harmony  and  recognition  pre- 
vailed for  a  time  between  the  three  distinct  ruling 
bodies.    All  mixed  more  or  less  in  public  affairs. 

In  1828  through  the  ascendancy  of  the  Clerical 
Party,  a  decree  was  issued  forbidding  all  Secret  Socie- 
ties to  assemble  or  have  being,  under  the  most  severe 
penalties. 

For  the  time,  MASONIC  ACTIVITIES  were  very 
quiescent  in  the  Republic  of  Mexico. 

Then  came  into  power,  President  Bustamente  of 
the  York  Rite,  who  abrogated  this  decree.  In  conse- 
quence, Masonry  took  on  new  life. 

All  of  which  evidences,  that  try  as  they  will,  the 
Sons  of  Loyola,  with  all  the  intricate  machinery  of 
the  Inquisition  behind  them,  as  they  had  in  those 
days,  cannot  hope  to  crush  the  soul  out  of  Masonry. 
The  germ  may  linger  long  quiescent,  only  to  spring 
anew  to  life  when  time  is  ripe. 

Although  the  York  and  Scottish  Rites  had  taken 
some  considerable  part  in  the  shaping  of  the  Repub- 
lic's welfare,  it  remained  for  the  youngest  of  Mason- 
ry's Mexican  daughters  to  openly  formulate  a  definite 
platform  upon  the  conduct  of  public  affairs. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  195 

In  1833  the  National  Rite  set  forth  its  policy  as 
follows : 

"Absolute  Freedom  of  Thought:  Freedom  of  the 
Press. 

"Abolishment  of  the  Privileges  of  the  Clergy,  and 
of  the  Army. 

"Suppression  of  Monastic  Institutions:  Destruc- 
tion of  Monopolies. 

"Protection  of  Arts  and  Industries:  Dissemina- 
tion of  Libraries,  and  Schools:  Abolition  of  Capital 
Punishment:  Colonial  Expansion." 

Most  of  these  high  principles  were  later  embodied 
in  the  Laws  of  Reform  enacted  and  put  into  the  Mex- 
ican Constitution  by  the  greatest  of  the  Masons  of  the 
Mexican  National  Rite,  Brother  Benito  Juarez,  when 
President  of  Mexico. 

In  the  Civil  War  inaugurated  by  Santa  Anna  and 
his  brethren  of  the  Scottish  Rite,  Mexican  National 
Rite  Masons  were  led  by  General  Valentin  Gomez 
Farias. 

In  1845  a  French  Lodge  began  to  work  in  Mexico 
under  a  Charter  from  the  Grand  Orient  of  France. 
This  was  called  "Les  Hospelalicedes  deux  mondes." 

In  1868  was  inaugurated  a  joint  sovereignty  un- 
der the  title,  "Ancient  and  Accepted  Scottish  Rite  and 
the  Mexican  Rite." 

In  its  long  career,  the  Mexican  National  Rite  in- 
terchanged and  received  recognition  from  and  with 
many  foreign  Masonic  Bodies. 

It  is  especially  interesting  to  us  Masons  of  the 
United  States  because  in  its  very  considerable  mem- 
bership, may  be  found  many  of  the  leaders  of  Mex- 
ican Masonic  fame,  men  who  have  passed  into  history. 


196  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

Need  I  mention  Degollado,  Farias,  De  Tejada,  De  la 
Pena  y  Barragan,  BENITO  JUAREZ,  Porfirio  Diaz, 
Corona,  Escobeda,  and  Iglesias? 

It  was  due  to  the  iron  will  and  determination  of 
Brother  Benito  Juarez,  whose  memory  today  is  hon- 
ored by  Masons  of  all  Mexican  Rites,  that  needed  re- 
strictions were  placed  by  his  LAWS  OF  REFORM 
upon  aggrandizement  of  the  Catholic  Clergy,  limita- 
tions upon  Monasteries  and  Convents,  and  the  render- 
ing impossible  in  Mexico  of  that  horrible  Bete  Noir  of 
all  time, — the  Holy  Inquisition, — an  institution  which 
exacted  grievous  toll  from  Masonry,  long  before  ever 
was  made  public,  its  horrible  torture  of  Brother  John 
Cuestos  in  Portugal. 

In  1880  was  founded  the  Gran  Oriente  of  Mexico 
to  work  only  in  the  degrees  of  Entered  Apprentice, 
Fellowcraft,  and  Master. 

On  May  27,  1883  the  Supreme  Council  of  Mexico 
City  issued  a  decree  pronouncing  upon  the  freedom 
and  sovereignty  of  Symbolic  Masonry  in  the  Republic, 
and  renouncing  all  jurisdiction  over  it. 

In  1890  by  invitation,  all  Symbolic  Lodges  sent 
representatives  to  the  Grand  Orient  of  Mexico.  To- 
gether they  formed  with  this  body,  La  Gran  Dieta 
Symbolica  de  los  Estados  Unidos  Mejicanos,  under  a 
General  Constitution  prohibiting  the  working  of  other 
than  the  first  three  degrees  of  Masonry,  and  interfer- 
ance  of  any  kind  on  the  part  of  the  degrees  from  the 
fourth  to  the  thirty-third. 

In  other  words,  Symbolic  Grand  Lodge  Sovereign- 
ty now  became  an  independent  working  body,  having 
subordinate  to  it,  seventeen  State  Grand  Lodges,  and 
two  subordinate  Lodges. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  197 

It  might  be  thought  that  this  was  a  satisfactory 
adjudication  of  jurisdictional  authority  for  Mexican 
Masonry. 

Not  so. 

Another  change  was  still  to  come,  largely  result- 
ant upon  the  unsettled  state  of  Mexico,  incidental  to 
the  kaleidoscopic  turn  of  events  subsequent  to  1910. 

Very  naturally,  the  English-speaking  Lodges 
made  up  mostly  of  Americans,  had  no  desire  to  be- 
come involved  in  the  political  affairs  appertaining  to 
the  Mexican  people  only. 

In  consequence,  they  renounced  their  allegiance 
to  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the  Valley  of  Mexico  to  form 
yet  another  independent  Masonic  Sovereignty,  "THE 
YORK  GRAND  LODGE  OF  MEXICO." 

This  was  in  1912. 

In  explanation,  Brother  Ernest  Tudor  Craig,  one 
of  the  early  Masters  of  the  New  Body,  said: 

"Our  position  in  Masonry  is  somewhat  unique. 
The  York  Grand  Lodge  of  Mexico  is  a  Grand  Lodge 
composed  of  York  Rite  Lodges,  and  working  in  the 
English  language  with  two  exceptions,  while  the  so- 
called  Masonry  of  the  indigenous  inhabitants  is  so- 
called  Scottish  Rite,  and  their  natural  inclination  is 
at  least  cooperation  with,  if  not  subordination  to  their 
Supreme  Council,  thus  making  the  so-called  Mexican 
Grand  Lodges  subordinate  instead  of  sovereign  bodies. 
IN  AMERICAN  PRACTICE,  IT  IS  FUNDAMENTAL 
THAT  A  GRAND  LODGE  MUST  BE  SUPREME  IN 
ITS  GOVERNMENT." 

When  the  National  Mexican  Rite  flourished  inde- 
pendently, before  the  merger,  of  all  the  Mexican 
Bodies,  Porfirio  Diaz  received  Masonic  Light  under  its 


198  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

auspices.  During  his  long  rule  of  over  thirty  years, 
Masonry  in  Mexico  flourished  as  never  before.  Even- 
tually he  took  unto  himself  a  second  wife  of  Catholic 
persuasion.  Supposedly  through  the  influence  wrought 
upon  him  by  her  family,  he  relaxed  considerably  the 
iron  restrictions  until  then  in  force  upon  the  Clericals, 
allowing  them  much  greater  rein  than  they  had  ever 
enjoyed  under  the  Laws  of  Reform  instituted  by  his 
great  predecessor  BENITO  JUAREZ. 

As  might  have  been  anticipated,  once  politico- 
religious  interference  entered  into  the  hitherto  har- 
monious Mexican  polity,  TROUBLE  BEGAN. 

Once  again  the  CLERICAL  OCTOPUS  reared  its 
slimy  head  in  the  until  then  prosperous  Mexico. 

There  happened  the  inevitable  Revolution  led  by 
Don  Francisco  Madero,  Jr,  32°  A.  &  A.  S.  R.,  ably  ad- 
vised by  Brother  Pino  de  Suarez,  33°  A.  &  A.  S.  R. 

Following  the  flight  of  Porfirio  Diaz, — the  very 
brief,  idealistic  administration  of  Mexico's  Masonic 
Martyr,  and  then  the  short-lived  saturnalia  of 
HUERTA. 

History  has  told  us  of  the  cold-blooded  assassina- 
tion of  Madero  and  his  Vice  President  Suarez,  in  the 
wee,  small  hours  preceding  dawn,  while  they  waited 
in  uncertainty  in  that  place  of  dark  deeds  and  darker 
secrets,  the  Palacio  Nacional. 

What  all  the  world  does  not  know,  is  how  the 
Catholic  Huerta  celebrated  the  triumph  of  CLERI- 
CALISM by  having  a  solemn  Te  Deum  and  the  Pre- 
sentation of  the  Arms  to  the  Host  in  the  old  Cathedral 
of  Mexico  City,  on  the  morning  following  the  murder. 

Unblushing  effrontery  you  may  say,  but  Huerta 
thrived  through  insolence. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  199 

Not  so  easily  was  foul  murder  to  rear  its  ghastly 
and  lugubrious  head  even  in  Mexico  City  of  1913,  un- 
challenged. 

Two  women,  the  grief -stricken  wife  of  Francisco 
Madero  Jr.,  and  the  utterly  crushed  wife  of  poor  Pino 
Suarez,  addressed  a  pitiful  plea  for  help,  to  the  sov- 
ereign Grand  Commander  of  the  Southern  Jurisdic- 
tion A.  &  A.  S.  R.,  of  this  United  States. 

In  letters  short  and  convincing,  they  told  the  sor- 
did tale  of  murder  and  rapine,  and  the  true  tale  of  the 
Black  Tragedy  was  flashed  to  the  civilized  world 
through  the  New  Age,  the  official  journal  of  the  south- 
ern Scottish  Rite  in  this  country. 

In  support  of  their  charges  against  Victoriano 
Huerta,  was  the  official  statement  of  Brother  Rojas, 
then  supreme  Representative  of  the  Mexican  Scottish 
Rite. 

Could  Huerta  long  remain  after  civilization  knew 
the  Truth? 

For  a  long  time,  his  very  effrontery  sustained  him 
in  power. 

Presently  came  complete  collapse. 

Followed  the  inevitable  flight  of  that  hoary  old 
champion  of  CLERICALISM. 

THEN  CHAOS. 

Then  the  Unspeakable  Villa. 

More  Chaos:  then  HOPE. 

It  may  be  that  President  Carranza  will  not  prove 
strong  enough  to  hold  his  coigne  of  advantage  against 
the  insuperable  odds  offered  him  by  opponents  whose 
motto  is  "THE  END  JUSTIFIES  THE  MEANS"— and 
should  it  happen  so,  even  as  the  sun  rises  in  the  east 
to  open  and  illumine  the  day,  so  will  rise  some  other 


200  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 

MASTER,  an  Hidalgo,  a  Guerrero,  or  yet  another 
Madero,  to  leap  into  the  bloody  breach  and  fight  Cler- 
icalism to  the  last  ditch. 

FOR  it  is  written, 

LIGHT  MUST  DAWN  IN  MEXICO.  If  the 
"Frailes"  and  the  "Padres"  would  live  in  the  land  of 
Hidalgo,  they  must  bow  to  the  wise  dictum  first  enun- 
ciated by  another  great  Mason  of  the  long  ago, — 
Brother  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  tersely  set  forth,  "THE 
PRIEST  HAS  NO  PLACE  IN  POLITICS." 

On  Sunday  March  11,  1917,  an  Election  was  held 
throughout  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  With  little  op- 
position, CARRANZA  was  regularly  elected  Presi- 
dent the  first  constitutional  executive  to  be  chosen 
since  the  cruel  assassination  of  Francisco  I.  Madero. 
A  constitutional  Convention  sitting  at  Queretaro  for 
the  past  few  months  has  carefully  considered,  and  re- 
vised the  Masonic  Constitution  of  1857  to  modernize 
it  and  render  it  a  more  effective  working  document 
compatible  with  new  and  untried  conditions. 

Much  of  the  success  of  the  Carranza  administra- 
tion now  having  so  auspicious  a  beginning  depends 
upon  the  continued  moral  and  financial  support  of  the 
United  States  of  America. 

Sensational  reports  transmitted  to  this  country 
from  various  sources  insinuate  that  Germany  has 
been  and  is  making  strenuous  efforts  to  enkindle  Mex- 
ican hatred  against  the  Gringo — that  German  Re- 
servists are  pouring  into  the  southern  Republic  with 
the  ultimate  design  of  leading  an  armed  invasion 
against  us,  on  the  instant  War  is  declared  between 
the  United   States   and   Germany — that  the  German 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  201 

Bank   of  Mexico   City  has  practically  financed  all  of 
Carranza's  recent  undertakings. 

It  is  possible,  even  probable,  that  Germany  has 
left  no  stone  unturned  to  bring  to  a  successful  cul- 
mination her  intrigues  against  the  United  States. 

It  is  improbable  that  President  Carranza  could 
consistently  betray  the  friendly  Government  whose 
moral  support  during  his  own  darkest  hours  has  made 
possible  of  realization  the  dream  of  the  Liberals  for  a 
Free  and  Enlightened  Mexico — and  the  reincarnation 
of  Constitutionality,  with  its  attendant  blessings  of 
Free  Speech,  Free  Press,  Civil  and  Religious  Liberty. 

If  Carranza  and  the  Masonic  Liberals  of  Mexico 
run  true  to  form,  the  United  States  can  anticipate  no 
danger  from  the  German  Menace  across  the  Rio 
Grande.  Instead,  we  have  every  reason  to  anticipate 
a  reciprocity  of  that  utilitarian  policy  which  it  has 
been  the  joy  and  pride  of  this  splendid  country  of 
ours,  to  manifest  towards  Latin  America — a  policy 
founded  upon  the  basic  principles  of  Brotherly  Love, 
Relief  and  Truth. 


202  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 


HISTORICAL    BIBLOGRAPHY   OF    INTEREST  ON 

MEXICO 

Historia  verdadera Bernal  Diaz. 

The  Gilded  Man Adolph   Bandelier. 

Cruautes  horribles  des  conquerants  du  Mexique, 

Ixtilxochitl,  de  Alva. 

Histoire  des   Chichimeques Ixtilochitl,  de  Alva. 

History  of  Mexico Francis  X.  Clavigero. 

History  of  Mexico Philip  Young. 

Narrative  History  of  America Justin  Winsor. 

Mexico T.   P.   Terry. 

Mexico Marcius     Wilson. 

Mexico  In  Transition William  D.   Butler,  D.  D. 

Mexico,  The  Land  of  Unrest H.  Baerlein. 

Insurgent  Mexico John  Reed. 

The  Mexican  People De  Lara  &  Pinchon. 

Carranza Carlos  de  Fornaro. 

Benighted  Mexico R.  W.   Smith. 

What's  the  Matter  With  Mexico Casper  Whitney. 

Viva    Mexico Flandrau. 

Natr  e  Religions  of  Mexico Albert  Reville. 

Iturbide,  A  Soldier  of  Mexico Dr.  J.  L.  McLeish. 

Mythologies  of  Ancient  Mexico Lewis  Spence. 

Plain  Facts  About  Mexico George  Hagar. 

Mexico     Today Brocklehurst. 

Ristoria  de  Mejico Lorenzana  y  Bintron. 

Historia  de  la  Conquista  de  Mejico. Solis  y  Rivadeneyra. 

Our  First  War  In  Mexico Farnham  Bishop. 

The  United  States  and  Mexico George  Lockhart  Rives. 

Mexico  Under  Maximilian H.   M.   Flint. 

With   Maximilian   In   Mexico Alvensleben. 

Diaz,  Master  of  Mexico James   Creelman. 

Barbarous  Mexico Kenneth  Turner. 

Porfirio     Diaz Zayas. 

Porfirio    Diaz Tweedie. 

Mexico  and  the  United  States Rev.  G.  D.  Abbot. 


High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution  203 


The  Political   Shame  of  Mexico Bell. 

History  of   Mexico Bancroft. 

Sketches  of  Mexico J.   W.   Butler. 

Le  Mexique,  ancien  et  moderne ,  .Michel  Chevalier. 

Histoire  du  Mexique E.  H.  D.  Romenech. 

The  Coming  Mexico J.  K.  Goodrich. 

Mexico C.   F.  Lummis. 

Mexico Nicholas     Mill. 

Mexico F.  A.  Ober. 

The  Viceroy  of  New  Spain F.  Smith. 

Pieces  sur  le  Mexique Ternaux-Compans. 

Defensa  del  Ex-Ministro  de  Relaciones. . .  .Don  Lucas  Alaman. 
Historia   de   Mejico Don   Lucas   Alaman. 

Historia  de  la  Guerra  entre  Mejico  y  los  Estados  Unidos, 

Ramon    Alcaraz. 

La  Invasion  Americana Balbontin. 

Le     Mexique Beltrami. 

Complete  History  of  the  Mexican  War Brooks. 

Las  Grandes  Mentiras  de  Nuestra  Historia F.  Bulnes. 

Life  In  Mexico Calderon  de  la  Barca. 

Una  Contribucion  a  la  Historia  masonica  de  Mexico, 

R.  E.  Chism. 

L'  Espagne  de  V  ancien  Regime Desdevises  du  Dezert. 

The  Inquisition  In  the  Spanish  Dependencies H.  C.  Lea. 

Independence  of  the  South  American  Republics Paxson. 

Conquest  of  Mexico W.  H.  Prescott. 

Notes  On  Mexico Joel  Poinsett. 

Mexico  and  the  United  States Matias  Romero. 

Mi  Historia  Militar  y  Politica Santa  Anna. 

Recollections  of  Mexico Waddy  Thompson. 

State  Papers  and  Public  Documents  of  the  U.  S. 

The  Curse  of  Mexico Tourbillon. 

Historia  de  Mejico  y  del  General  Antonio  Lopez  de 

Santa  Anna Suarez. 

Mexico , H.  G.  Ward. 

History  of  the  Mexican  War Wilcox. 

Los  Gringoes H.  A.  Wise. 

Mexico  and  Her  Military  Chieftains Fay  Robinson. 

Historia  de  Mejico Zamacois. 

Ensayo  Historico  de  las  Revoluciones  de  Mejico. .  .L.  de  Zavala. 


204  High  Lights  of  the  Mexican  Revolution 


Cuadro  Historico Carlos  Bustamente. 

The  Mexican  Policy Manuel  Calero. 

The  Truth  About  Mexico Senator  Fall. 

Mexico Carson. 

Su  Virreinato  en  la  Nueva  Espana Palafox  y  Mendoza. 

History  and  Digest  of  International  Arbitrations.  .J.  B.  Moore. 

Brief e  uber  Nord  Amerika  und  Mexico Von  Grone. 

The  Soul  of  Spain H.  Ellis. 

Despojo  de  los  Bienes  Eclesiasticos Anon. 

Comercio  Esterior  de  Mejico  desde  la  Conquista, 

Lerdo  de  Tejada. 


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